 "India, US 'actively involved' in trade talks: Govt a day after MEA rebuke")
Hours after issuing a strong response to the United States' (US) threat of additional tariffs, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday said that it is actively involved in the discussions with the US, with the aim of expanding trade and investment.
"Government of India is actively involved in the discussions on the India-USA Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the Government of the United States with the aim to expand trade and investment and deepening the India-US trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation," said Jitin Prasada, minister of state for Commerce & Industry, in response to a question by Lok Sabha member Kodikunnil Suresh.
He added that the Centre has held five rounds of talks with the US between March and July 2025. The next round of talks is scheduled later this month in India.
This follows a scathing response from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) a day earlier to US President Donald Trump’s threat of higher tariffs on Indian goods for importing Russian oil.
The MEA labeled Trump's criticism as “unjustified and unreasonable,” stating that India’s energy relations with Russia are based on national necessity and remain significantly smaller than Russia’s trade with Western countries.
“It is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," the MEA said in a statement on Monday.
Agricultural safeguards
Suresh also asked a question about the Centre's assessment of the proposed free trade agreement's (FTA) impact on small farmers, and steps to protect India's agricultural interests.
Responding to it, the minister said that international trade negotiations allow for the inclusion of sensitive, negative, or exclusion lists—categories of goods on which limited or no tariff concessions are granted.
"In addition, in case of surge in imports and injury to the domestic industry, a country is allowed to take recourse to trade remedial measures such as anti-dumping and safeguards on imports within the periods as mutually agreed to by the parties under FTAs," he added.