With the American economy recovering from its recession days, the Commerce Ministry of India is preparing to visit the US trade office seeking them to increase imports of Indian gem and jewellery and handicraft items, reports say. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma accompanied by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar will leave for Washington on March 16, 2010, reports add.

For India, the US has been an important market for its labour intensive sectors, reports say. Also, in 2008-09, India had exported gems and jewellery worth USD 24.89 billion, leather worth USD 3.59 billion and handicrafts worth USD 1.7 billion to the US, which occupied an important share in India's total shipments valued over USD 185 billion.