U.S.-India BIT Talks Could Hit Bumps Over Market Access, Other Areas

摘要

The United States and India this summer kicked off negotiations for a new bilateral investment treaty (BIT), and some of the toughest issues will likely be market access commitments, labor and environmental protections, and the issue of "performance requirements" on which investments are conditioned, Washington-based observers said. The two sides held an initial round of BIT negotiations in New Delhi in early June and hope to schedule another round of talks "soon," according to an official in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The June round was preliminary in nature, allowing U.S. negotiators to explain provisions in the Washington's revised "model BIT," and some observers believe it will take years for the two sides to ink a final investment deal.