India Appears Conciliatory in Trade Flap : Commerce: The United States has threatened sanctions if it fails to open its markets. The Asian nation says it is willing to negotiate.

India remains willing to discuss trade problems with the United States, Commerce Minister Subramanian Swamy said Sunday after Washington accused India of pirating U.S. copyrights and patents.

“We are certainly not happy with the U.S. decision, but I do not think we need to overreact because doors are still open for conciliation and negotiation,” Swamy said.

The Bush Administration on Friday accused China, India and Thailand of pirating U.S. copyrights and patents and Japan of keeping U.S. firms out of its booming construction market.

India faces punitive tariffs of up to 100% on exports to the United States if it fails to halt piracy of such goods as films, pharmaceuticals and computer software and fails to open its markets to “legitimate” products within six months.

Swamy said the two countries disagreed over how long a patent should be in effect. “This is a matter of degree which can be overcome through negotiations,” he said.

Washington has given India 30 days to begin talks.

Swamy’s conciliatory remarks contrasted with the belligerent tone India took two years ago when the United States first branded it an unfair trader.

The commerce minister at the time, Arun Nehru, vowed that India “would never negotiate with a gun to its head.”

Now staggering under a $70-billion foreign debt and running out of foreign exchange, India has asked major donors for emergency aid to stave off default on its loan repayments.

The donors, including the United States, gather in Washington today for an annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. On the agenda will be India’s request for $700 million, Western diplomats said.

India is being pressed to reform its banking system and open its markets to foreign investment in exchange for fresh loans from the IMF and World Bank, diplomats and bankers said.