A US delegation will visit India in August for the sixth round of negotiations regarding the proposed bilateral trade deal between New Delhi and Washington, an official said on Monday.
India's chief negotiator and special secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal and Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch held the deliberations. Despite protracted discussions from July 14 to 17, the fifth round of negotiations saw no results.
Both sides aim to finalise an interim trade deal before August 1, which marks the end of the suspension period of Trump tariffs imposed on dozens of countries, including India (26 per cent), as per a PTI report.
On April 2 this year, US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, typically in the range of 20-35 per cent. The implementation of the tariffs was immediately suspended for 90 days till July 9—a deadline that was later extended to August 1—as America negotiatiates trade deals with various countries.
Issues related to agriculture and automobiles were part of the agenda in the fifth round of negotiations. Matters related to ways to deal with non-market economies, and SCOMET (Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment, and Technologies) also came up in the discussion.
India continues to remain steadfast against US demands for duty concessions on agricultural and dairy products. Notably, New Delhi has so far not conceded (on the tariff front) to any of its trading partners for a free trade agreement in the dairy sector.
Certain farmers' associations have also urged the government not to include any issues related to agriculture in the trade pact.
India currently seeks the removal of the 26 per cent tariff, as well as a relaxation of Trump's separate tariffs on steel and aluminium (50 per cent) and the auto sector (25 per cent). India has also reserved its right under WTO (World Trade Organisation) norms to impose retaliatory duties on these.
New Delhi also seeks duty concessions for labour-intensive sectors—such as textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, grapes, and bananas—in the proposed trade pact.
The US, however, insists on duty concessions for certain industrial goods, automobiles (especially electric vehicles), wines, petrochemical products, agri goods, dairy items, apples, tree nuts, and genetically modified crops.
The two countries are looking to conclude talks for the first tranche of the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall (September-October) this year. Before that, they are looking for an interim trade pact.
India's merchandise exports to the US rose 22.8 per cent to $25.51 billion in the April-June quarter this fiscal year, while imports rose 11.68 per cent to $12.86 billion.
