India’s negotiation team has returned from the United States after holding talks for an interim trade deal between the two countries, says a report by CNBC-TV18.
Furthermore, the report says that the talks for the trade deal between India and the United States are at their last stage and could be inked before July 9. There are several issues in the agriculture and automobile sectors that still remain unresolved.
What has been the progress till now?
The United States had put a temporary pause of 90 days on the reciprocal tariffs on India. While the 90-day period ends on July 9, the policymakers of the two countries have been in continuous talks to work out a trade agreement.
According to the Financial Times report, the two countries have already agreed on reducing tariffs on thousands of items. India has agreed to import more natural gas from the United States to reduce the trade deficit. Additionally, India has agreed to import farm goods such as fruits and nuts from the US, says the report.
In return, India is pushing for tariff relief on key labour-intensive exports like textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oilseeds, grapes, and bananas.
India-US trade deal: Bone of contention
The United States is seeking a larger exposure to the indian agriculture and dairy product market. However, as the dairy and agriculture remain the livelihood of 80 million people in India, mostly small farmers, Indian authorities are treading cautiously.
India has previously protected its dairy sector in trade negotiations with the EU, and experts say it is likely to do the same here. The US is also looking for duty concessions on industrial goods, electric vehicles, wines, and petrochemical products.