International Business Opportunities

US officials have written to nine Indian firms based in the US, asking them to account for their workforce, and explain how the visas were granted.
The US authorities are concerned that the Indian companies are trying to avoid hiring skilled American workers.

US authorities grant a total of 65,000 temporary working visas every year. (see H-1B Visa Now Just a Critical Tool for Indian Outsourcing Vendors)

However, in recent months, the US has become concerned that many companies are bringing over lower-paid Indian workers at the expense of the more expensive Americans.
In the past few years, the US has been urging India to open up its own economy to American businesses.
Many US companies have come to India, lured by the fortunes of firms that have flourished because of the strength of the Indian economy.
(
source: BBC)

Senior trade representatives of India and China today forecast that the bilateral trade volume will surge from the current $25 billion to $40 billion by 2009, a full year ahead of the target set by the two governments.
During the first quarter (Jan-Mar) of this year, bilateral trade has touched USD 8.2 billion, soaring by 58 per cent, Vice President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Wang Jinzhen said. […]

Member of Indian Parliament and Managing Director of Videocon Industries Ltd., Rajkumar Dhoot, heading an ASSOCHAM delegation to China, noted that the growth in Chinese exports to India was among the fastest for the world’s third largest trading power.
However, he noted that Chinese investment in India was very low, only accounting for 30 per cent of all foreign direct investment approved by the country. This must improve, Dhoot said, adding the business communities of the two countries should look into the business opportunities more seriously.
(source)

Industry lobbies in U.S. are working towards activist’ agenda to eventually lead up to a free trade agreement between US and India, potentially the largest ever such deal.

The US India Business Council is working out plans to prepare and execute a roadmap to create a US-India free trade agreement. […] As a first step, the council has invited a phalanx of high-end Washington-based consultants, to create the research, prepare and define, and then execute the roadmap to chart a logical progression towards deeper, more robust US-India trade and investment climate.[…] Trade expert professionals are being solicited to join the initiative… (Source).

The H-1B visa law, championed as a way to attract the world’s best and brightest to America to study and work, allows skilled, specialized foreigners to work in America for up to six years and then pursue permanent residency.
The International Herald Tribune points out how the H-1B visa is now being put to a starkly different use.

The newspapers says:
“It is now a critical tool for Indian outsourcing vendors to gain expertise and win contracts from Western companies to transfer critical operations to places like Bangalore.” […]

According to a tabulation of U.S. Labor Department statistics, eight of the 10 largest H-1B applicants last year were outsourcing firms with major operations in India.

The newspapers explains:

“To deliver the solutions from a remote environment, Indian outsourcing vendors need a certain number of people being with a customer, understanding his needs and collecting the requirements.[…] They simlpy need a link between the people who are doing coding in India and the client”.
Indian outsourcing vendor Infosys had 6,800 U.S. employees on H-1Bs as of last September. In 1998, the figure was 231.

An investigative panel will almost certainly be established to examine India’s compliance with international trade rules at a meeting later this month of the WTO’s dispute settlement body, officials said.

India has introduced several measures “in the form of duties, which have continued to restrict the access of EU wines and spirits to the Indian market,” Raimund Raith, trade negotiator for the 27-nation European Union, told the WTO’s dispute settlement body. […]

The United States, which has also filed a complaint with the WTO about Indian treatment of American wine and spirits, said it shared the EU’s concerns.The U.S. is still in consultations with India, but can ask for a formal investigation as early as May if the two sides fail to reach an agreement. […]

India’s basic import duties on wine are 100 percent, while the tariff on spirits is at 150 percent, both within WTO limits. However, various government surcharges take the tariffs up to levels reaching as high as 540 percent depending on the Indian state. (Source).