NEW DELHI: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his counterpart US Trade Representative Jamison Greer spent the last two days reviewing the progress of the trade deal on market access, digital trade, supply chain resilience, reducing non-tariff barriers and expanding cooperation in strategic sectors on the table.While the initial tranche of the trade deal is largely focused on India opening its market to US goods once the US provides clarification on how the new tariff structure will work, the official statement only mentioned finalizing an interim trade deal and did not mention any time frame.“Both sides noted the significant progress achieved by the negotiating teams in recent months and welcomed the momentum generated by successive technical and ministerial engagements.
Discussions focused on ways to conclude an interim agreement as an important milestone towards a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement. “Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to a balanced and commercially meaningful agreement that provides tangible benefits to businesses, farmers, workers and consumers in both countries,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
The statement said that the two countries discussed ways to conclude an interim agreement and reaffirmed their commitment to a “balanced and commercially meaningful” agreement.
Before the ministerial-level talks began, Indian officials indicated that the meeting would seek to “finalize” the framework agreement, the implementation of which was suspended after the US Supreme Court described “reciprocal tariffs” as illegal. As part of the framework agreement, a reciprocal tariff on India was pegged at 18% plus MFN duties on the products. In a statement issued to ANI, Greer said he reiterated the US commitment to promoting a constructive, mutual and mutually beneficial economic partnership with India that supports growth, opportunity and prosperity in both countries.He said that US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have decided to take relations between the two countries to the next level in every aspect of the relationship, including the trade deal and technologies. “We know that India has a long history in agriculture and manufacturing, but we also know that they are moving forward with technology. They want to move forward with artificial intelligence. “They want to cooperate and coordinate with the United States on future technologies and future trade, and these are some exciting opportunities that we will have between the United States and India to take advantage of that,” Greer said.