Press Releases 2007

Indian Consumer Pays the Price for Trade Restrictions:  U.S. Commerce Secretary

June 28, 2007

NEW DELHI - Indian consumers are paying the price for the Government of India's trade restrictions on wheat imports from the United States, according to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, who was speaking at an event organized by the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington, D.C. yesterday.

"The only major country American wheat farmers can't export to is India, where restrictions on wheat imports effectively prevent American farmers from bidding on contracts to India," Secretary Gutierrez said June 27 in remarks to the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington.

"Ultimately, Indian consumers pay the price.  This year the Indian government will pay tens of millions of dollars more because of these barriers on American wheat imports.  This is a concrete example of the cost of trade restrictions-and the benefits that can be had by reducing barriers to trade," he said.

The United States is the world's largest exporter of wheat, exporting millions of tons of grain every year to 110 countries around the world - but not to India. 

The full text of Secretary Gutierrez's remarks can be found at: http://www.commerce.gov/NewsRoom/SecretarySpeeches/PROD01_003114