India, US Deal Is Very Close, Says US Official

National Harbor (US) : US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau on Tuesday said that India and the US are very close to signing the trade deal. However, he insisted that the countries need to get over “the last hurdle”, without elaborating on it.

Speaking to media persons at the SelectUSA Investment Summit at National Harbor, Landau said, “We are very aware of India's importance on the world stage. I think it is very important to get a final resolution of that trade deal. We have been talking now for months that we are very close, and I think we are very close. But we have to get over that last hurdle.”

He also acknowledged that India is one of the great powers of the world and has incredible economic potential. However, he suggested that India could not fully realise its economic potential for many decades because of the economic models that India chose to pursue.

“But I think India is now poised to have massive economic development and to lift many hundreds of millions of people out of poverty,” Landau said.

India and the US announced the framework of the bilateral trade agreement on February 2. Under this framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India from 50 per cent to 18 per cent. It had removed the 25 per cent punitive tariff on Indian goods levied for the country buying Russian oil.

However, after the US Supreme Court ruling against Trump's reciprocal tariffs, sources in India suggest that the country is insisting on the US lowering the tariff from 18 per cent to 10 per cent -- a level that the tariff on Indian goods dropped after the Supreme Court verdict.

India is also seeking preferential access to the US markets as part of the deal. Indian negotiators were in the US last month for discussions on the trade agreement. However, the US authorities are resisting such revision in view of pending trade probe under Section 301 of the Trade Act, 1974