New Delhi, March 29 (PTI) India and the US have decided to hold field-specific dialogue in the coming weeks to finalize the structure of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in the coming weeks, the government said on Saturday.
The engagement between the two countries came on April 2 under the backdrop of the United States threat to put mutual tariffs on its major business partners including India.
The decision to discuss in the coming weeks follows a four -day conversation – between senior officials of India and the US – which concluded here on Saturday.
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The ministry said, “Sectoral expert-level busyness under BTA will almost start in the coming weeks and will pave the way for individually initial interactions.”
In a statement, the Ministry of Commerce asked to realize the shared objective of promoting development, which ensures fairness, national security and employment generation, both sides broadly a mutually beneficial, multi-regional BTA towards the next steps, which is to finalize its first installment by the decline (August-September) 2025.
Through the agreement, the two countries are looking to increase market access to their goods, cut tariffs and non-tariff barriers and to deepen supply chain integration in a mutually beneficial manner.
“Both sides are ready to construct this milestone in the coming months to finalize the BTA, ensuring that it aligns with shared goals of prosperity, flexibility and mutual benefit,” it said.
A team of American officials headed by the Assistant American Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brandon Lynch was here to finalize the terms of the contexts of the proposed treaty, aimed at double the bilateral trade by 2030 to double the USD $ 500 billion.
The meeting follows the visit of Washington’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal from 4-6 March, during which he met his US trade representative Jaimison Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik and later on video conferences between the two sides.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “very smart man”, while emphasizing that the tariff talks “would work very well between India and our country”.
This comment is important as Trump has repeatedly criticized the high tariffs accused on American goods by India and other countries. He has announced a plan to impose mutual tariffs on its major business partners including India on 2 April.
“India is one of the most tarner countries in the world. It is cruel, it is very smart. He (Modi) is a very smart man and I have a great friend. We had a very good conversation. I think it is going to work very well between India and our country.”
In a trade treaty, two countries either reduce or eliminate customs duty on the maximum number of trading goods between them. They also reduce criteria to promote trade in services and promote investment.
Whereas the US has demanded duty concessions in areas such as some industrial goods, automobiles, wines, petrochemical products, dairy, agricultural commodities like apples, tree nuts and alfalfa grass; India can see duty cuts for labor-intensive areas like textiles.
Indian industries and exporters have asked the government to protect them against the United States mutual tariffs. He has sought exemption from those tariffs as it will seriously harm them as America is the largest business partner in India.
The United States is carrying India forward to negotiate a large and grand bilateral trade agreement demanding to open the agricultural sector for American businesses.
According to experts, India is unlikely to include dairy and agriculture in business talks as it is a politically sensitive area.
US agricultural exports in India in 2024 were US $ 1.6 billion. Major exports include almonds (in shell – USD 868 million); Pistachio (USD 121 million), apple (USD 21 million), ethanol (ethyl alcohol USD 266 million).
In June 2023, India announced the removal of retrenching import duties on eight US products, including chickpeas, pulses and apples, in 2019 in response to the US measures to increase tariffs on some steel and aluminum products.
In 2024, India’s main exports to the US in drug formulation, biological (USD 8.1 billion), telecom instruments (USD 6.5 billion), precious and semi-precious stones (USD 5.3 billion), petroleum products (USD 4.1 billion), gold and other precious jewelry (usd 3.2 billion), (USD 2.7 billion).
Import includes crude oil (USD 4.5 billion), petroleum products (USD 3.6 billion), coal, coke (USD 3.4 billion), cut and polished diamonds (USD 2.6 billion), electric machinery (USD 1.4 billion), aircraft, space crafts and parts (USD 1.3 billion), and gold (USD 1.3 billion).
In 2023-24, the US was the largest trading partner in India, with 119.71 billion bilateral bilateral trade (USD 77.51 billion exports, USD 42.19 billion imports, USD 35.31 billion USD 35.31 billion business).
India has received USD 67.8 billion in foreign direct investment during April 2000 and September 2024. PTI RR TRB
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