India a trusted trading partner in 'friendshoring' strategy: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

Yellen, who is visiting India for the first time as US Treasury Secretary, at the Microsoft India Development Centre, said that the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war are reasons to further deepen the economic ties between both nations.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday said that her country's strategy of 'friendshoring' aligns the manufacturing and sourcing of components and raw materials with shared values. Yellen, who is visiting India for the first time as US Treasury Secretary, at the Microsoft India Development Centre, said that the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war are reasons to further deepen the economic ties between both nations.

"India is one of our trusted trading partners. In a world where supply chain vulnerabilities canimpose heavy costs, we believe it's important to strengthen our trade ties with India and the large number of countries that share our approach to economic relations. This includes bothdeveloping and advanced economies," she said at the event. The US Treasury Secretary said that their goal is to promote global economic integration while creating greater redundancies in the supply chain to mitigate concentration risks. She further said that the country also wanted to diversify away from risky countries like Russia that seek to weaponize trade integration to advance their geopolitical aims.

"We call this strategy 'friendshoring.' Modernizing our trade relationships in this way will paydividends. Increased trade between our two countries can result in economic benefits for ourpeople. It will also provide greater reliability and certainty for consumers and businesses on keygoods and inputs," Yellen said. Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on trade in the 21st century that require trust, transparency, and timeliness, she said that the US will deepen integration to serve all three of these goals.

"We are already seeing new supply chains develop in India," US Treasury Secretary said. To support her upper statement, she further said that there are investments by companies like Apple and Google, who had previously announced their plans to expand phone production in India.

"Hasbro, an American toy conglomerate, began shifting manufacturing from China to India and Vietnam in 2019. And it plans to continue doing so. We will continue to build the business and commercial ties through meetings like the U.S.-India Commercial Dialogue and CEO Forum," Yellen added. Talking about India and US economic ties, Yellen said that the economic ties between both countries are stronger than ever before. She also said that the US is India's biggest trading partner.

"And our bilateral trade recently reached an all-time high of over USD 150 billion in 2021. Direct investment from India in my country supported over 70,000 jobs at the end of 2020. A broad range of American companies - from Whirlpool to Boeing to GE - invest in India. And Indian technology firms like Infosys and Mindtree are critical to the day-to-day operations of many American corporations," the US Treasury Secretary added. (ANI)

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