India’s negotiating team will be visiting the US later this month to advance talks on the bilateral trade agreement (BTA), sources said on Thursday.
This will be the second visit of the Indian team led by chief negotiator and additional secretary in the department of commerce Rajesh Agrawal in as many months as both sides rush to meet the deadline of fall for the first tranche of the agreement.
While officials maintain that the full first phase of the BTA will be completed only by September-October, the work is on so see if an interim agreement can be reached between the two sides earlier. The interim agreement will help India avoid the full impact of the reciprocal tariffs that have been put on pause till July 9. Both sides still have 54 days left to arrive at an interim agreement.
The US had imposed a 26% additional tariff on India, but put it on hold for 90 days. Now, Indian exports are facing just 10% additional duties, the same as every other country in the world barring China.
Agrawal, during his last visit to the US, had held three days of talks with assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch in Washington.
The BTA was announced after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on February 13, the very day that the US unveiled its reciprocal tariff plan. Through the BTA and related measures, both countries are aiming to increase their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from nearly $200 billion at present. The terms of reference of the BTA were finalised in March.
Exporters also want the BTA to be expedited so that their shipments can continue to go to the US without any major tariff disadvantage after the 90-day pause expires. Because of the uncertainty, exporters are rushing their orders to the US to beat higher tariffs.