India and the United States will resume negotiations on the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) on Monday.Sergio Gor, the US ambassador to India, praised Washington and New Delhi’s continued efforts to finalise a bilateral trade deal on Monday and announced that an Indian delegation would travel to the US this week for important discussions.
On his official X handle, Gor wrote, “The Indian trade delegation will be arriving in Washington this week. A great step to finalise our bilateral trade deal. A win-win for both nations!”
The meeting will mark the first face-to-face engagement between the two sides in nearly four months, during which discussions continued virtually. The Indian team, led by chief negotiator Darpan Jain, will include officials from the commerce, customs and external affairs ministries.
Earlier, on 15 April, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said the Indian team led by chief negotiator would be visiting the US from April 20, to further discuss BTA.
“We are looking at finalising the legal agreement, which is a logical follow-up of the joint statement released on 7th February. There is a need for further discussions and follow-up engagement to take this forward,” Agarwal had said.
The talks assume significance as both countries reassess the contours of the proposed pact following changes in the US tariff regime. After the US Supreme Court struck down sweeping tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Washington introduced a temporary 10 percent tariff on imports from all countries for 150 days beginning February 24.
Officials indicated that the altered tariff landscape could necessitate a reworking of key provisions of the agreement. “The framework may need to be recalibrated and redrafted in light of recent developments,” the official said.
Under the earlier framework, the US had proposed reducing tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent, while India had offered tariff concessions across industrial goods and a wide range of agricultural products.
India has also indicated plans to significantly scale up imports of US energy, aircraft and technology products over the next five years.
