Centre says trade team to visit US this week as bilateral talks progress

By Shruti Srivastava

 

An Indian trade delegation will visit the US this week as the two nations work toward clinching a deal by the fall deadline, an official told reporters in New Delhi on Monday.

 

The South Asian nation is also seeking to buy more natural gas from the US as part of the trade talks, the official said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. Discussions between the two countries are progressing well, the person added, without providing further details.

 

The negotiations resumed last month as both sides sought to ease tensions following President Donald Trump’s decision to slap India with the highest tariffs in Asia, penalising the country for its trade barriers and Russian oil purchases.  

 

A US trade team visited New Delhi for a day of talks in September, followed by a trip to Washington by an Indian delegation led by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. 

 

During those talks, India offered concessions to the US, including easing some restrictions on the import of genetically modified corn, and offering to buy more American defense and energy goods, Bloomberg News reported earlier. 

 

The US and India had previously committed to a bilateral agreement to be completed by the fall of this year, but negotiations collapsed after both sides hardened their positions and Washington began putting pressure on New Delhi over its ties with Russia.  

 

Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent in August, accusing New Delhi of helping Russian leader Vladimir Putin finance his war in Ukraine. India’s government has struck a defiant tone, saying it won’t halt Russian purchases and called the action “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”