India is an important trading and strategic partner of the US, a top Biden administration official has told American lawmakers, asserting that despite some sharp differences, the two countries have agreed to work together on various issues, including the market access commitments. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, testifying before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday during a hearing on the US Trade Policy Agenda, noted that there are sharp differences between the two countries on a number of issues. For instance, during her trip to India in November last year, there was a strong push back from India on the issue of alleged dumping of shrimps, she said. “I have raised this directly with my Indian counterpart in Delhi last November when I visited him. I did get very forceful pushback. But I am committed to working with you on this issue. And that means in our own system, but that also means engaging the Indian government. And I look forward to exploring ways to do that,” Tai told Senator Bill Cassidy in response to a question. Cassidy alleged that warm water shrimp from India are heavily subsidised and perhaps do not meet phytosanitary standards. “Similarly, they apparently heavily subsidise their rice even before the seed is planted,” he alleged. But the United States, last year, gained access for pork exports to India, Tai said, adding that she had held a meeting with Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. Goyal, she told the Senators, “is very, very charismatic and also a very strong advocate for his country's policies; some of which I think we will be able to strategically align with and some of which will and have proven to continue to be challenging for us. It was very important for us as the USTR and for me personally to go to Delhi to revive that trade policy forum.”