US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Monday met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to discuss the bilateral relationship including trade matters.
Bilateral Trade Discussions
“Delighted to again meet my good friends US Senator Steve Daines and the US Ambassador to India Sergoi Gor. Had a productive exchange of views on our bilateral relationship,” Goyal posted on X after the meeting.
Gor formally took over as US Ambassador on January 14 after presenting his credentials.
The US Senator had met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday. Daines is a senator from Montana and on January 16 had written to US President Donald Trump regarding tariffs by India on pulses imports. Another signatory to the letter was Kevin Cramer from North Dakota.
In their letter they had specifically mentioned imposition of 30% tariffs on yellow peas from November 1 last year. “Engaging Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi on pulse crop tariffs to enhance the economic cooperation between our two countries would be mutually beneficial for both American producers and consumers,” the senators had said in their letter to Trump.
They had also mentioned that North Dakota and Montana are top producers of pulse crops, including peas, and India is the world’s largest producer of these crops, contributing 27% of the global consumption, they had pointed out.
Domestic Protection Measures
In December 2023 the government had earlier allowed duty-free imports of yellow peas until March 31, 2026. As cheap imports started impacting locally produced crops of pulses the duty was imposed from November 1. The duty includes a 10 % basic duty and 20 % agriculture infrastructure development cess (AIDC).
The meeting also assumed significance as in their letter two senators had also asked the President that: “as the trade negotiations progress, we encourage you to push for favourable pulse crop provisions in any agreement the US signs with India.”
India and the US have been negotiating a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) since March last year and have held five rounds of negotiations. As the negotiations were progressing the US went ahead and imposed 50% additional tariffs on Indian imports. After many formal rounds and meetings at the top, both sides have come close to an agreement on trade, according to officials.