India is hopeful of concluding the early tranche of the Bilateral Trade agreement (BTA) with the US before the reciprocal tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump are fully implemented from July 9.
“We would like to conclude the early tranche before July 9. Both the teams are visiting each other. The Indian team has visited the US twice and their team has also visited India twice. There is progress..,” commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters here.
He said India would like to have greater market access through tariff reduction in the trade agreement with the US. Both countries have set a target of doubling trade to $ 500 billion by 2030 and that would require each side to offer greater market access through reduction of tariff and other barriers, the secretary added.
The US has announced additional tariffs of 26% on India but have been put on hold till July 9. Now Indian exports attract only 10% additional baseline tariffs. The reciprocal tariffs will be implemented after July 9 by the US for all its trade partners with whom it fails to reach any trade agreement or understanding.
The US rules which do now allow the President to bring down tariffs below Most Favoured Nation (MFN) rate unilaterally and has to be done by either the US congress or through the authorisation provided by the Congress to the President. This may delay reduction of tariffs by the US in the BTA or the initial tranche.
An official said it is up to the US to decide how to navigate its local regulations for the trade agreement. The next date of in-person negotiations on the BTA and its initial tranche are yet to be decided but both sides are engaging virtually without a break.