The Indian delegation, led by Chief Negotiator and Special Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal, participated in the talks held in Washington DC. Further rounds are expected in the coming weeks as both sides explore the possibility of an interim trade deal before the August 1 deadline, when the suspension period of the 12% US tariff on Indian goods ends.
Sources said India is not differentiating between an interim or first phase of a bilateral trade agreement. While India is negotiating a complete deal, the conclusion of an interim agreement based on items agreed upon so far cannot be ruled out.
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Issues related to agriculture and automobiles were discussed during the talks. In particular, discussions in the dairy sector were significant, as India has not extended tariff concessions to any of its trading partners in this segment.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said, “I have already mentioned that we don’t negotiate through media. We negotiate in the negotiating room…Talks are ongoing and once the team is back, we will get feedback of the response and the progress…”
Talks also covered trade in Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment, and Technologies (SCOMET). The two sides discussed broader economic concerns relating to non-market economies, including China. Access to rare earth minerals was among the key issues raised.
India is primarily seeking relief from the 26% tariff imposed by the US in April as part of a broader announcement of tariff hikes on several countries.
Meanwhile, the US is seeking duty concessions on industrial goods, automobiles (especially electric vehicles), wines, petrochemical products, agricultural goods, dairy items, apples, tree nuts, and genetically modified crops.
Commenting on the negotiations, former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said India must approach the talks with caution, considering the uncertainties in global trade.
“I think where it is much more sort of difficult (trade negotiations) is in areas such as agriculture, where every country subsidises its producers, and our producers may be relatively smaller, may have somewhat lower subsidies…unconstrained flow of agricultural products into the country may create problems for them,” he told PTI.
