India, US set ball rolling for interim trade pact: Piyush
New Delhi: An interim trade agreement between India and the US is likely to be signed in March and operationalised in April, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.
Earlier this month, India and the US released a joint statement announcing a framework for an interim trade agreement. To finalise the text of the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, the chief negotiators of the two countries will meet in Washington next week.
The three-day meeting between the two teams will begin on February 23. Goyal told reporters here that the pact is expected to be signed next month and may be implemented in April. US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer is likely to visit India in March to sign the agreement.
In an event at the AI Impact Summit here, US Ambassador Sergio Gor said that the India-US trade deal is set to be inked soon. India on Friday joined the US-led strategic alliance Pax Silica aimed at building a resilient supply chain for critical minerals. "From the trade deal to Pax Silica to defence cooperation, the potential for our two nations to work together is truly limitless," Gor said in his remarks.
The joint statement, released separately by the two nations earlier this month, lays down the contours of the deal. These now need to be translated into a legal agreement, for which the two sides will meet next week. The Indian team will be headed by chief negotiator Darpan Jain, who is a joint secretary in the Commerce Ministry.
Under the pact, both sides would extend duty concessions to each other on a number of goods traded between them. The US has announced that it will reduce the reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods from 25 per cent to 18 per cent. It has already eliminated the 25 per cent punitive tariffs on India for buying Russian crude oil. The move is a big relief to the domestic industry as they were facing steep 50 per cent tariffs by the US.
Goyal expressed hope that an executive order to cut the tariffs to 18 per cent would be issued by the Trump administration this month. While speaking at the launch of seven components of the Rs 25,060-crore export promotion mission (EPM), Goyal said the India-US trade agreement has opened huge business opportunities for Indian exporters.
