US Chief Negotiator Brendan Lynch in Delhi for Talks on Bilateral Trade Deal
Visit seen as precursor to sixth round of negotiations stalled after US imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods
New Delhi: The government on Monday said that Donald Trump administration’s chief negotiator Brendan Lynch, who is the Assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia, would reach tonight to hold a daylong talk on India-US bilateral trade deal on Tuesday. The discussion is expected to be on the impacts following imposition of 50 per cent import tariffs by the US on Indian goods. The meeting comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warmly reacted to US Trump’s positive assessment of trade ties between the two countries.
“We have indicated that in the past also the discussions are going on, the chief negotiator of the US is visiting India tonight and tomorrow will be holding talks to see what can be the picture. It is not the sixth round of negotiations but it is definitely discussing the trade talks and trying to see how we can reach an agreement between India and the US,” said Rajesh Agarwal, India’s chief negotiator and a special secretary in the commerce ministry.
As of now, five rounds of negotiations for the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) have been held, and the sixth round of talks, scheduled from August 25-29, was postponed following the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods by the US. “India and the US have been engaged in discussions through virtual mode on a weekly basis,” Agarwal said.
“There have been discussions going on but we were not progressing much because the overall environment was not conducive. Now we see there is a window. Tuesday's talks should not be seen as a sixth round of talks, but it may decide on a future course of action. It will be rather a precursor to the sixth round of negotiations,” he added.
India’s exports have been affected following the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on shipments to the US. Lynch, however, oversees the development and implementation of US trade policy with regard to 15 countries in the region, including management of the US-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) as well as coordination of activity under Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFAs) with regional partners.
