India-US Trade: Goyal Says First Tranche Of Bilateral Pact Near Finalisation
We are trying to work out what would be the mechanism by which India can get preferential market access in the US market compared to our competitors. The Indian team will discuss these aspects while they are in Washington”: Piyush Goyal
NEW DELHI: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that the government has almost finalised the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement with the United States. The minister’s statement comes after a team of Indian officials reached Washington for talks. “It is expected to discuss aspects related to preferential market access for domestic goods in the US,” he said.
“We are trying to work out what would be the mechanism by which India can get preferential market access in the US market compared to our competitors. The Indian team will discuss these aspects while they are in Washington,” the minister told reporters here.
About a dozen officers from India are in Washington for three-day trade talks with the US authorities. As the tariff landscape has changed in the US, both sides may like to relook at the framework of the agreement, the text of which was released on February 7. Following the US Supreme Court's decision against the sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on a number of countries, the Trump administration imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all countries from February 24 for 150 days.
According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent, from 50 per cent. It had removed the 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods for buying Russian oil and was to cut the remaining 25 per cent to 18 per cent under the pact. But on February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled against Trump's reciprocal tariffs, which were imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)
