India and the US are very close to finalizing the first phase of the ambitious bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
News agency ANI quoted a government official as confirming that both sides are in agreement on most issues and negotiators from both countries are considering the “language of the agreement”. The official claimed that there are not many differences between the two countries to find a solution.
He further said that the talks on the agreement are progressing well and no new issues are hindering the talks. He said both sides are hopeful of an agreement within the deadline
On Thursday, negotiators from both the countries held virtual discussions. Five rounds of negotiations have been completed since March for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, which was initially scheduled to be signed by “autumn 2025”.
The bilateral trade agreement, formally proposed in February following instructions from the leaders of the two countries, aims to double the trade volume to US$500 billion by 2030 from the current US$191 billion.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was in the US last month, where he led high-level trade talks so that the two countries could work towards reaching a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement. Goyal was also accompanied by a delegation of senior officials of the ministry, including Special Secretary and India’s chief negotiator Rajesh Agarwal.
In mid-September, a team of United States officials led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch had “positive and forward-looking” discussions with India’s Commerce Department officials and it was decided to intensify efforts to quickly conclude a mutually beneficial trade agreement.
India and the US have been negotiating an interim trade agreement for the past few months. There were some objections from the Indian side to the US demand for opening up the agriculture and dairy sectors.
Agriculture and dairy are important for India as both these sectors provide livelihood opportunities to a large section.
Initially, US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, which came into effect from August 1, while there were hopes of an interim trade agreement between India and the US that would have otherwise helped avoid increased tariffs.
A few days later, he imposed another tariff of 25 percent, citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil, bringing the total tariff to 50 percent. The 50% tariff came into effect from August 27.
US President Donald Trump had imposed reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries with which the US has a trade deficit.