An official said that New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) India and the United States are likely to agree on an interim trade agreement before July 8, insisting on the full exemption from 26 percent mutual tariff on household goods with New Delhi.
On 2 April, the US imposed an additional 26 percent mutual tariff on Indian goods, but suspended for 90 days for 90 days. However, 10 percent of the baseline tariffs imposed by the US remain in place.
The government official said that efforts to protect India’s own sensitive areas may enter some quota or minimum import price (MIP). Agricultural goods and dairy are included in such areas.
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Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was earlier this week to give an inspiration for trade talks in Washington. He met the US Trade Representative (USTR) Jemison Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik.
In a post on X, Goyal said that he had a good discussion with the US Commerce Secretary to end the first installment of the Indo-US bilateral trade agreement.
“The talks are moving positively. Before July 8, we are concluding an interim deal before the first installment. It will also include goods, non-tariff barriers, services of some services.
Currently, the Trump administration requires approval from the US Congress to bring tariffs under the MFN (most preferred nation) rates.
But the administration has the right to remove mutual tariffs imposed on many countries including India.
India may see some commitments from the US on duty concessions for its labor-intensive field in the first installment of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA). The two countries have set a time limit to terminate the first phase of the treaty by this year’s collapse (September-October), which exceeds USD 500 billion by 2030 more than bilateral trade.
After the ministerial level meetings, discussions were held between the chief negotiaters of the two countries, which will continue till 22 May.
Officials of New Delhi and Washington are trying to take advantage of the 90-day tariff poses window to carry forward the talks. The US has suspended an additional 26 percent tariff on India by 9 July. It was declared on 2 April to increase the trade deficit.
To promote bilateral trade, India is demanding duty concessions for labor-intensive areas such as textiles, gems and jewelery, leather items, textiles, plastic, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, chemicals, grapes, and bananas in the proposed treaty with America.
On the other hand, the US wants duty concessions in areas such as some industrial goods, automobiles (especially electric vehicles), wine, petrochemical products, dairy and agricultural commodities such as apples, tree nuts and GM (genetically modified) crops.
While the import of GM crops from the US remains a non-starter due to regulatory criteria in India, New Delhi is open to import non-Gram products such as Alpha Alpha He (a type of cattle feed).
The US has expressed concern over some non-tariff obstacles being faced by American goods in Indian markets on several occasions.
Will there be another round of talks on the proposed treaty between the two countries, the official said, “We are trying to finalize things as soon as possible.
The US was India’s largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade to USD 131.84 billion. About 18 percent of the total goods exports of the US, 6.22 percent in imports and 10.73 percent in the country’s total trade trade.
Along with the US, in India in 2024–25 goods were a trade surplus of USD 41.18 billion (difference between imports and exports). It was 35.32 billion in 2023-24, US $ 27.7 billion in 2022-23, USD 32.85 billion in 2021-22 and USD 22.73 billion in 2020–21. The US has expressed concern over this broader trade deficit. Pti rr cs rr mr
This report is auto-generated with PTI News Service. ThePrint does not have any responsibility for its content.