Two days of ministerial-level talks between India and the US, aimed at finalising an interim trade agreement concluded here on Wednesday, but no clarity emerged on whether both sides managed to bridge the remaining differences.
The discussions were led by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer.
A statement from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said the discussions focused on pathways to conclude an interim agreement, as an important milestone toward a comprehensive Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The focus of discussions over the past two days over multiple sessions was on the core elements of BTA like enhanced market access, digital trade, supply chain resilience, reduction of non-tariff barriers, and expanded cooperation in strategic sectors, the ministry said. But it refrained from any specific comment on the progress made, or whether the talks were satisfactory.
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Prior to the USTR’s visit, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor had said on June 3 that the deal was 99% complete and an agreement could be finalised in the next few weeks. The high-level visit from the US from June 22 to June 24 had led to hopes of substantial progress over two days of intensive discussions.
Legal Realignment
“The failure of USTR visit to produce any breakthrough suggests that New Delhi is reassessing the logic of proposed trade agreement as the reciprocal tariffs that were a basis of framework agreement no longer exist,” founder of Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) Ajay Srivastava said
This was the first meeting between USTR and the Commerce Minister since February when both sides agreed to a framework of an interim trade deal. As per the framework the US had agreed to reduce additional duties in India to 18% from 50%. India in return had agreed to cuts duties on American industrial goods to zero, open up non-sensitive sectors of the agriculture market and buy $ 500 billion worth of goods over five years.
However, before the framework could be converted into legal agreement the US Supreme Court in late February scrapped reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. This led to discussions starting afresh. Before the USTR visit, India and the US had held two rounds of official-level talks. The first round was held in late April and in early June.
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Expiry Deadlines
While India has maintained that it is not negotiating the agreement with a deadline in mind, the US would be looking at a deal before June 24 when the 10% additional tariffs applied after the US Supreme Court verdict expire.
The key ask for India in the negotiations is that its goods should be subject to lower tariffs than its competitors in the American markets. Srivastava said even a signed agreement with the US would offer no protection against future US actions as Washington has repeatedly launched Section 301 investigations and imposed trade restrictions on countries with which it already has trade agreements.
TOPICSIndia-US trade dealThis article was first uploaded on June twenty-four, twenty twenty-six, at eleven minutes past ten in the night. © The Indian Express (P) Ltd