Face-to-face discussions could push India in May – US Trade Agreement

New Delhi: India and the United States may hold face-to-face negotiations on their proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in mid-May as a follow-up to a virtual speech expected later this week, officials said.

Even if New Delhi still wants to come to a negotiation about the first deal “as soon as possible”, even if New Delhi still wants to come to a conclusion.

Officials say Indian trade negotiators can visit the U.S. for negotiations next month.
They also pointed out that the higher cost of entering the U.S. market due to Trump’s tariffs could prompt China, Vietnam and Indonesia to transfer their goods to India.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry also said China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods could further increase inflows of U.S. agricultural products into India.
The center has established an import monitoring unit to carry out a wave of imports from those countries during the 90-day pause of the U.S. “Mutual Taxes”.
“We will work hard to end the negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement as soon as possible. We hope we can reach a good agreement with the United States. We also hope the negotiations will end soon,” an official said.
Pay attention to the surge in imports
The goal of both sides is to conclude talks on the first deals by September to October, although officials say the negotiations may even be completed before. Negotiations for various track and field groups at BTA will actually begin this week. The parties also completed the signature of the agreement and signed the Terms of Reference (TOR).

“We want to get into the physical way of negotiations, maybe in the second half of May. So, as far as the BTA and its negotiations are concerned, we are going as planned,” said Rajesh Agrawal, secretary of the Ministry of Commerce. The United States remained India’s highest export destination in the last fiscal year, at $86.51 billion, up from $77.52 billion in fiscal year 24.

The Commerce Department said China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods could further increase the flow of U.S. agricultural goods into India. “Due to the global uncertainty related to tariffs, there are obviously higher concerns related to imports or surge floods or surges to view this…Import surge monitoring team has been established,” said L Satya Srinivas, an additional secretary general.