MUMBAI, India - President Barack Obama announced a host of new trade deals with India supporting tens of thousands of U.S. jobs Saturday as he began a 10-day trip through Asia on a determinedly domestic note.
Intent on demonstrating his attention to the sluggish U.S. economy even while overseas, Obama also told a meeting of U.S. and Indian executives that the United States would relax some export regulations that have complicated trade between America and this fast-growing country of 1.2 billion people.
"As we look to India today, the United States sees the opportunity to sell our exports in one of the fastest growing markets in the world. In America this is a jobs strategy," the president said in a speech to the U.S.-India Business Council.
Obama said it should be a "win-win" relationship, but in a nod to U.S. sensibilities he also acknowledged concerns in the U.S. about outsourcing.
"There still exists a caricature of India as a land of call centres," the president said.
He said people in India also are concerned about the impact of U.S. goods coming into their country, but contended that growing trade could only benefit both sides in the long run. He said he sees huge untapped potential in the relationship.
The commercial deals include the purchase of 33 737s from Boeing by India's SpiceJet Airlines; the Indian military's plans to buy aircraft engines from General Electric; and preliminary agreement between Boeing and the Indian Air Force on the purchase of 10 C17s.
For the most part, the deals were already pending, but the White House contends Obama's visit to India helped finalize them. Officials said the deals would support 53,670 U.S. jobs, but it was not clear how many, if any, new jobs would be created as a result.
