The Indian delegation visiting the US for talks on trade will stay there till the end of this week, being engaged in issues beyond trade that have marred relations between the two countries, an official said Wednesday.
“Talks are happening at different levels and both trade and non-trade issues are being discussed,” the official said. The team that reached the US on Monday is expected to be there for a week to cover as much ground as possible in the negotiations on the first tranche of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and the extra tariffs India has been subjected to.
While the trade surplus in India’s favour in bilateral trade has invited a 25% additional tariff on India’s exports to the US, another 25% has been imposed for purchase of Russian oil. That the US is peeved at India-Russia energy trade was visible again from the speech of US president Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday night.
He said by purchasing Russian oil India and China have been financing the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Tariffs and energy trade under spotlight
US secretary of state Marco Rubio confirmed that the Russian oil issue was discussed with the Indian side on Monday and expressed hope that the oil-related tariff issue could be fixed. Rubio had met the external affairs minister on Monday on the sidelines of the UN general assembly.
That day itself from the trade side India and US kicked-off their latest round of engagement on the first tranche of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The Indian delegation is led by Goyal and includes chief negotiator for the agreement, special secretary Rajesh Agarwal and other officials involved in the talks are also in the US.
Both sides have been tight-lipped on the details of the talks on trade. After ministerial level discussions the officials from both sides have started the current bout of engagements..
Talks intensify despite setbacks
The talks on the agreement have not progressed in a structured way after the five rounds as the sixth round that was scheduled for August 25 got postponed. The trigger for postponement was the additional 25% tariffs imposed on India for buying Russian crude oil.
After a few days of quiet after the tariff blow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump again spoke to each other and trade officials again got talking. On 16th September the officials from the office of the USTR visited India. Discussions were held on various aspects of the trade deal and it was decided to intensify efforts for an agreement.
The Indian team’s visit to the US is in continuation of the efforts. Just prior to this visit the increase in fee for fresh H1B visas has emerged as an irritant. In trade talks his issue could also figure after high tariffs have been dealt with.
Tariff certainty is key to India’s exports to the US. Since the US started pulling up its tariffs India’s exports to the US are slowing down.