NEW DELHI: India’s chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal is headed to Washington DC next week for talks with his counterparts ahead of the first round of discussions for the proposed bilateral trade agreement. While technical discussions were to be launched this week, Agrawal’s visit is meant to settle a few issues before the launch of formal talks.
Earlier this week, commerce department officials said that the terms of reference were finalised after a team led by assistant US trade representative Brendan Lynch visited India last month. Trade negotiators from across the globe are rushing to DC, offering to buy peace after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs announced by him on 57 countries.
H e also announced sector-specific duties for steel, automobiles, and auto parts and is threatening action on pharma, which has so far been exempted.
Govt believes that India has stolen a march over others on trade negotiations as Trump and PM Modi announced the launch of talks for a bilateral trade deal by autumn (Sept-Oct), and some ground is already covered.
On Tuesday, Union commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the govt will seek to close the negotiations with the US as quickly as possible, while maintaining that the two sides have agreed to liberalise trade. The talks will cover both tariff and non-tariff barriers, in addition to steps to strengthen the supply chain.
