India USA Trade Talk: Amidst the tension between India and America regarding tariffs, a news of relief has come to light. Yes, according to a report by news agency ANI, quoting sources, it has been said that trade talks are going to be held between India and America in New Delhi from December 10.
It is known that US President Donald Trump had imposed a heavy tariff of 50 percent on India last August. In this, additional tariff of 25 percent was imposed simply because India purchases crude oil from Russia. Trump had alleged that Russia uses the money received from India’s oil purchases in its war with Ukraine. Now, amid the tariff war, India and America are going to hold trade talks in New Delhi, which is being considered a relief.
Objective of taking forward negotiations on BTA
India and the United States (USA) are scheduled to hold trade talks in New Delhi from December 10, government sources said on Saturday, according to a report by news agency ANI. The aim of the discussion is to take forward negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between the two countries.
On November 28, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal, the chief negotiator of the deal from the Indian side, had said that India expected to sign the first phase of the India-US bilateral trade agreement within the current calendar year.
Addressing the FICCI Annual General Meeting, he indicated that considerable progress has been made in the talks despite recent changes in global trade conditions. Reflecting on the negotiations so far, the Secretary said, “I think our expectations…we are very optimistic and we are very hopeful that we will find a solution within this calendar year.”
Target to increase trade by 500 billion dollars
India and the US had initially targeted to complete the first phase of the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by 2025, but there were new developments in the US trade policy landscape, including tariffs, news agency ANI reported. US President Donald Trump imposed 25 percent tariff on Indian goods from August 1 and a few days later increased it by another 25 percent, citing India’s continued purchases of Russian oil. America had also imposed reciprocal tariffs on many countries with which it has a trade deficit.
Several rounds of negotiations have taken place to finalize the BTA with the United States. The BTA, formally proposed in February following directives from the leadership of both countries, aims to more than double bilateral trade from the current US$191 billion to US$500 billion by 2030. The talks were first announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington earlier this year.
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