The Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that New Delhi, March 29 (PTI) India and the United States have decided to hold regional talks under the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
This was decided after a four -day talks by senior officials from India and the US. These talks ended here on Saturday.
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.”
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In order to realize the common objective of promoting fairness, national security and development that ensures employment generation, the two sides have made a understanding for an understanding on the next steps in the direction of the multi-regional BTA through four days of discussions.
During these discussions, the two sides made a productive exchange of ideas on deepening bilateral cooperation in priority areas, including increasing market reach, reduced tariffs and non-tariff barriers and deepening the supply chain integration in a mutually beneficial manner.
A team of American officials led by the Assistant American Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendon Lynch was here for talks.
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.
The ministry said, “The successful conclusion of the discussions reflects progress in efforts to expand the Indo-US bilateral trade and investment relations to promote prosperity, security and innovation in both countries.”
These stages are designed to unlock new opportunities for businesses, run bilateral economic integration and strengthen the economic partnership between two business partners.
“India and the United States expressed satisfaction with the results of the meeting and confirmed their dedication to the ongoing cooperation. Both sides are ready to build this milestone in the coming months to finalize the BTA, ensuring that it should be aligned with shared goals of prosperity, flexibility and mutual gains,” said this.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “very smart man” and “my great friend”, while emphasizing that the tariff talks “will 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.”
India and the US are targeting to end the first phase of the agreement until the fall of 2025 (September-October). He has set a target for more than 500 billion USD from USD 2030 to 2030 by 2030 to 2030.
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
This report is auto-generated with PTI News Service. ThePrint does not have any responsibility for its content.