New Delhi, 8 July (IANS). Indian exporters have welcomed the US decision to postpone tariffs on imports from 9 July to 1 August, as it will get more time to negotiate to resolve trade issues.
Director General of Federation of Indian Export Organization (FIEO) Ajay Sahai said that postponing recipes is the US’s desire to creatively associate with its business partners.
“It offers additional time for conversation, which can help our negotiaters solve the remaining controversial issues,” he said.
Sahai further said that if the US finalizes bilateral trade agreement on at least goods by the end of this month, then the proposed tariffs covering a dozen countries can provide more comparative benefits to India.
The United States Treasury Secretary Scott Besant had earlier stated that Washington is close to reaching the agreement on several trade deals as a lot of proposals have come from different countries at the last minute. His comments indicate the announcements of several large trade deals by the Donald Trump administration.
According to media reports, Besant said, “US President Trump will send a letter to some of our business partners saying that if you do not advance things, you will return to your April 2 tariff level on August 1. So I think we will see a lot of deals very soon.”
Trump has announced several trade deals including Vietnam and China. He said last month that the US and India could sign an agreement.
India’s high -level official delegation led by the chief negotiator Rajesh Aggarwal has returned from Washington without reaching the final agreement on the sensitive issue of trade and dairy products after trade talks with US officials.
However, there is still a ray of hope that the two countries may have an interim bilateral trade agreement at the highest political level before the start of a 26 percent increase in US tariffs on Indian exports.
The US wants more access to its agriculture and dairy products, which is a major obstacle, because for India, it is the issue of livelihood of small farmers of the country and therefore a sensitive area.
-IANS
SKT/
