India Hopeful of Resuming Negotiations on Proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement with US

 New Delhi: Despite the government’s move of diversification of exports in tariff-hit sectors, India is still hopeful of resuming negotiations on the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US soon. Meanwhile, the government is trying to expedite the rollout of an export promotion mission to help exporters, who are flagging concerns over a total of 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the US on Indian shipments, the official sources said on Thursday.

However, the sources also said that though the new dates for the next round of negotiations for the agreement have not been finalised yet, the government wants to clinch a 'favourable' deal with the US as soon as possible. “We are still in touch with the Washington administration and hope to get back on the table soon. Whenever we strike a deal, both the tariffs — additional 25 per cent and 25 per cent on purchase of Russian oil need — to be addressed as early as possible,” the sources said.

On exporters’ concern, the sources also said that as leading exporters have sought help at the liquidity front due to cancellation or slowdown in orders that leads to liquidity crunch, the government is mulling over to soon resolve all issues faced by them, including their liquidity issues. “Export diversification, new free trade agreements, rollout of export promotion mission and growing domestic market will help provide cushion to Indian exporters from the impact of US tariffs,” the sources said.

“The other measures which are under consideration include emergency credit line guarantee scheme for MSME exporters in tariff-hit sectors, moratorium on export loans to allow exporters operational space without asset downgrades, and extension of export realisation period to ease cash flow challenges caused by longer payment cycles,” the sources said.

“We are considering industry’s suggestions on exports and we are trying something tangible with long term benefits. However, the industry is worried but the losses from these tariffs would be there only in the short run. The diversification of exports will certainly help exporters sustain trade trajectory in the long run. The government is seized of issues being faced by exporters, and positive work is going on to help them as well,” the sources said.

The two countries started negotiations for BTA in March. So far, five rounds of negotiations have been completed. The US team, which was scheduled to visit India from August 25, for the next round of negotiations for the agreement, postponed the meeting. The talks are paused as the US is pressing for greater market access in politically sensitive areas such as agri and dairy sectors, which India cannot accept as it affects the livelihood of small and marginal farmers