New Delhi: The US today (Feb 5, 2004) sought to downplay concerns in the Indian IT industry over the recent American legislation curbing outsourcing of federal contracts saying it had a "narrow scope" with regard to its overall impact but made it clear that international trade was a two-way street.

"It needs to be clear that international trade has to be a two-way street. There is a feeling in the US, that American market is very open and certain other markets are not as open, and therefore the ability for trade to flow is not equal," Ambassador David Gross, US International Co-ordinator for Information and Communication Policy, said at a news conference in New Delhi.

Gross said that during his interaction with Indian IT industry, he had not come across any company, which felt that the legislation would impact its current business.

"It is also important that we recognise that this legislation has nothing to do with only India. It has to do with all countries outside US who are focusing on US Government services," he said.

"The lesson we all learn is that in perception as well as in reality, there is much to be gained by international trade for all trading partners and there has to be a sense of equality associated with that," he said.

Commenting on the issue, Michael Gallagher, acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce said that while US embraced competition to innovate, it strongly resisted barriers to free trade.

"So when we look at outsourcing or off-shoring, a case needs to be made about the two way nature of trade," he said.