Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative
Under this agreement, an expatriate in either country need not contribute to the social security scheme of the host country
New Delhi:
The US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Saturday said they have received information from India recently on the proposed social security agreement and there is a lot of work to be done on the subject.
Social security totalisation agreement was one of the key asks from the Indian side in the meeting of the Trade Policy Forum here, as it will significantly contribute towards enhancing services trade between countries and help Indian IT professionals who temporarily work in the US.
India has submitted all the relevant data on its social security schemes which was sought by the US to start negotiations on the agreement.
”Yes, the Indian government is in touch with our social security administration… We have received that information on the eve of the TPF.
”… We have the information and the ball is back in our court, but it’s just landed in our court. So there is a lot more work to do” to facilitate the conversation on India’s proposal, the US Trade Representative (USTR) Tai told reporters here.
She was here for the 14th TPF meeting. It was co-chaired by her and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
Under this agreement, an expatriate in either country need not contribute to the social security scheme of the host country.
It will benefit a number of Indians, particularly from the IT sector, who are working in America and paying social security but are unable to get any benefit out of it.