New Delhi:
A top government official said on Thursday that the talks for the proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and the US were progressing well and a team would soon leave for a inspiration for talks for Washington.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that an Indian team is going to Washington for further discussion.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will lead a team of senior Indian officials from Washington for discussions starting on 17 May, with his American counterparts on the agreement.
He will hold meetings with the US Trade Representative (USTR) Jaimison Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik during his visit.
While Goyal will be in Washington from 17-20 May, India’s chief negotiator Rajesh Aggarwal will consult his US counterpart from May 19-22.
This year (September-October) has a conversation against the backdrop of the two countries seeking the possibility of an interim trade system in the goods to secure the “initial mutual win” before finalizing the first phase of the trade agreement.
He said, “The talks are going on, they are progressing very well and a team has been slated to go to America to interact with the US team,” he asked reporters.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump in Doha has claimed that India has agreed to “zero tariffs” on many American goods, as against its “highest” tariffs.
“India is one of the most tariff countries in the world. Selling in India is very difficult. They have made a deal to us where they are originally ready – literally – they do not charge us any fee.
“We go through the highest tariff – you cannot do business in India, we are not even in the top 30 in India because the tariff is so high – at a point where they really told us that there will be no tariff. Will you say that this is the difference? They were the most, and now they are not saying a tariff,” said Trump.
Talking to reporters on the occasion of an incident, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, these are complex talks and nothing is decided until everything happens.
“Business talks between India and America are going on, negotiations are going on, in fact, I think, a team is going now, at this point.
“But, any business deal should be mutually beneficial, any business deal will have to work for both countries, and I think it will be expected from the business deal, and until this happens, I think any decision on it will be ahead of time,” he said.
When asked about the deadline to terminate these negotiations, an official said that the first installment is aimed at ending the first installment by this year’s collapse (September-October).
The official said, “Let’s see how fast we can complete the deal. We want to finish it as soon as possible,” the official said that by 2030, by 2030, the goal is to double bilateral trade by USD 500 billion.
“So we are moving in that direction. We are growing from both exports and imports.
The main issues in the conversation during the Indian team’s visit include market access, rules of origin and non-tariff barriers.
Through these discussions, the goal of officials of New Delhi and Washington is to take advantage of the 90-day tariff poses window to pursue 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.
However, 10 percent of the baseline tariffs imposed on countries will continue to be implemented.
To inspire the talks, India’s chief negotiator for BTA Rajesh Aggarwal, Special Secretary in Commerce Department, and Assistant American Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendon Lynch held a three -day talks in Washington last month.
Earlier in March, Goyal held bilateral meetings with Greer and Lutnik.
India and the US have already started sectoral-level talks for pact.
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.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
