India and the US have held five rounds of talks on the BTA so far, but could not arrive at a mutually agreeable formula for tariff reduction.
“Bilateral deliberations are happening at different levels –from negotiating teams’ level to that of ministers and the diplomatic (channels). We also engage with different industries and the US companies and everybody. These negotiations are happening across various channels,” Barthwal added.
There has been no official word from the US side also on the next round of talks.
Tariffs add pressure on negotiations
India and the US had decided in February to conclude the negotiations on the first tranche of the BTA by the fall of 2025. In a joint statement after the meeting between US president Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi both sides also decided to increase their bilateral trade to $ 500 billion from $ 191 billion at present.
As both sides engage on the BTA, the US went ahead and announced 25% reciprocal tariffs on India which became operational on August 7. Later Trump added another tranche of 25% duties on Indian imports that will be applicable from August 27.
The additional 25% that is not directly related to the trade but is a penalty for India’s purchase of Russian oil. Since a lot of geo-political developments are already happening, the imposition of additional duties will depend on how they unfold over the next two weeks, the official said.
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On the 25% extra duties on Indian exports to the US the government is already in touch with the stakeholders, The officials from the Commerce Ministry are taking to different export promotion councils especially those that are dealing with the sectors that are more exposed to the US market.
“Our commodity divisions are talking to different councils. The commerce minister has also taken meetings with the councils particularly of those sectors which are labour intensive to understand their exposure to the US,” the official added.