Three-day talks began here on Tuesday to finalize the provisions of the proposed interim trade agreement between India and the US. An officer gave this information. This conversation is taking place at Vanijya Bhavan, the headquarters of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The US team is led by its chief negotiator Brendan Lynch, while the Indian side is led by Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce.
The official said both sides are also considering taking forward negotiations on a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement (BTA) along with finalizing the details of the interim agreement. Both the countries had announced to finalize the outline of this agreement in February. In a statement issued on February 7, the US had agreed to reduce the duty on India from 50 percent to 18 percent and also removed the 25 percent duty on Russian oil purchases. It was also proposed to reduce the remaining duty to 18 percent.
Talks have also taken place in Washington
However, on February 20, the US Supreme Court rejected sweeping retaliatory customs tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. After this, the US administration announced to impose a uniform duty of 10 percent on all countries for 150 days from February 24. According to an official, keeping these changes in mind, both sides can review the outline of the agreement. Earlier in April, talks were also held between the two sides in Washington. Under the proposed framework, India has also proposed to eliminate or reduce duties on American industrial products and give concessions on many agricultural and food products. These include animal feed, red sorghum, nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, wine and other products.
500 billion dollar business in 5 years
India has also expressed its intention to buy energy products, aircraft and their parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal worth $500 billion from America in the next five years. The official said that due to recent changes in the US duty structure, this agreement may need to be amended so that India can get an advantage in terms of duty over competing countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. America has been India’s second largest trading partner. In the financial year 2025-26, India’s exports to America increased by 0.92 percent to $ 87.3 billion, while imports increased by 15.95 percent to $ 52.9 billion. During this period, the trade surplus declined to $34.4 billion, which was $40.89 billion a year ago.
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