Deliberations between Indian and US officials on the proposed bilateral trade agreement began in Washington last week to with an aim to iron out issues and give an impetus to the negotiations.India’s chief negotiator, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal, is leading the team for the first in-person talks between the two countries.On April 15, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal stated that India would try to close the negotiations as quickly as possible with the US.In a joint statement issued after their bilateral meeting in Washington in February this year, President Trump and PM Modi announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector BTA by the fall of 2025.The leaders had committed to designate senior representatives to advance these negotiations and to ensure that the trade relationship fully reflects the aspirations of the COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology).In the past, Trump has called India a “tariff king” and a “big abuser”.During a joint press conference with Modi in the White House on February 13, Trump had said that India has “been very strong on tariffs”, and “I don’t blame them, necessarily, but it’s a different way of doing business. It’s very hard to sell into India because they have trade barriers, very strong tariffs.”He announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including India and China, on April 2. However, on April 9, he announced a 90-day suspension of these tariffs until July 9 this year, except for those on China and Hong Kong, as about 75 countries approached America for trade deals.However, the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed on the countries on April 2 remains in effect, besides the 25 per cent duties on steel, aluminium, and auto components.
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