Main focus of the U.S. is illegal immigration: Amy Hariani

While things may be done differently under the Trump administration, the outcome will be very positive for the India-U.S. relations, believes Amy Hariani, vice-president, U.S. India Business Council (USIBC) at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Edited excerpts:

The current U.S. administration is particularly unique and both the private sector and the public sector, bureaucrats and political appointees are having to adjust to a new normal. It is really about understanding what is going in Washington, how that is playing out in the U.S. and also with our relation[s] with India. I think it is about understanding the new paradigm that we are working in from the Washington perspective.

I understand why people will be concerned about protectionism coming out of the U.S. That being said, I don’t think the outcome is necessarily going to be protectionist. For example, the President is not at all against trade deals. What he is for is trade deals that ultimately benefit both counties and both businesses and he has felt that prior trade deals haven’t done that. Look at some of his statements, TTP for example, where at times he supported TTP and other times [he] said he doesn’t.

What I tell everyone in Washington is that this is all negotiation and this is all a dance, so let’s dance together. Let us negotiate. Let us sit across a table and talk about our priorities. But the outcome in the end is going to be positive, both for India and the U.S.

The USIBC and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have long supported an open and free economy and movement of professionals, including H1Bs and spouses. We have taken a very vocal stand on that. In fact, we have a big sign about supporting immigration outside our office which is just opposite the White House. The President, I think, wants to re-look at the way things are done not because he wants to shut off the stream of H-1B workers or spouses but he just wants to [see] if we are doing it the right way. The main focus of the U.S. is illegal immigration. Unfortunately, these other issues kind of get caught up in it sometimes but I am confident that the administration with the U.S. chamber — which is the whole of [the] U.S. industry — behind it, will support not just H-1Bs but also the spousal visas. The spouses come to the towns in the U.S. and they create jobs. They go to the grocery store and they shop and they spend money. So it is good for the U.S. economy and it is good for the relationship and I think it will get back on track.

With this administration… this is the new normal that we are talking about... it’s in fits and starts. So, something will happen and it will kind of go back, and then something will happen. So, I don’t know if I have a sense of when it is all going to get sorted out but we have our mid-term elections coming up in November. So, for us, that is a big political area… I think the administration wants to get some movement on that. But again, H1Bs and particularly, the spousal visas are not the focus in Washington. It is really the illegal immigration that is the larger talking point.

Harley is an iconic brand and we support them tremendously. That said, your point on the number of bikes that are imported to India is small is right. So, understanding why the President has such a significant interest in it, I don’t personally talk to him about it, so I don’t know. But I think the bigger point is the President is a negotiator. And he will use whatever leverage and tools he thinks he needs to use to negotiate a good deal both for the U.S. and India.

The disputes in the WTO may sort of play out dramatically but are actually quite civilised. It is like working out a conflict with a partner or friend or a family member. You don’t let it derail the relationship. For example, the U.S. has most WTO disputes with Europe… and they are great friends and trading partners. So, I think WTO cases, in isolation, are not a good barometer of the health of the overall trading or commercial relationship.

That said, this U.S. administration is looking at the WTO with an entirely different… President trump has said he doesn’t really believe in the WTO anymore. There are two components of the WTO — one is the dispute settlement which enforces the laws and cases and then there is negotiating component which is supposed to further liberalise and reform. I don’t think the U.S. Government is likely to put a lot more weight into the negotiation part of the WTO until and unless they start to see some other progress in some of the enforcement areas.

These are all little bubbles. If you step back and look at the whole forest and not just the trees, you realise that actually economic relations, M&A activities, investments… for example the Walmart-Flipkart deal, is going on unabated.

The true marker in my opinion of a mature and strategic trade relation is having these small problems and then working them out.

Our members import steel from India, develop and make products from Indian steel and therefore, on behalf of the membership, we support exclusion [from tariffs] for India and also for other countries as part of global supply chain. A good example is an Indian company like Mahindra that opened up an auto plant in Detroit. The first auto plant to open in Detroit in 20 years is not by an U.S. company but by an Indian company. That Indian company now has deep strategic relations with Ford and others… so it is all interwoven. I am confident that the U.S. government will recognise the importance of the strategic relationship of India and the commercial relationship enough to give it an exemption, either a country-specific or a product-specific that would benefit both countries.