India, US conclude fifth round of talks on proposed trade pact: Official

India and the US teams have concluded the fifth round of talks for the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in Washington on July 17, an official said.

The negotiations were held for four days (July 14-17) in Washington.

"The Indian team is coming back," the official said.

India's chief negotiator and special secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal led the team for negotiations.

These deliberations are important as both sides are looking at finalising an interim trade deal before August 1, which marks the end of the suspension period of Trump tariffs imposed on dozens of countries, including India (26 per cent).

On April 2 this year, US President Donald Trump announced these high reciprocal tariffs. The implementation of high tariffs was immediately suspended for 90 days till July 9 and later until August 1, as America is negotiating trade deals with various countries.

Issues related to agriculture and automobiles are learnt to have figured during the fifth round of negotiations. Matters related to ways to deal with non-market economies, and SCOMET (Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment, and Technologies) also came up for discussion.

On the possibility for an interim trade agreement before August 1, an official has recently stated, "We are not differentiating between an interim or the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. We are negotiating a complete deal. Whatever will be finished (agreed upon), we can package it as an interim deal and for the rest, talks will continue".

India has hardened its position on the US demand for duty concessions on agri and dairy products. New Delhi has, so far, not given any duty concessions to any of its trading partners in a free trade agreement in the dairy sector. Certain farmers' associations have urged the government not to include any issues related to agriculture in the trade pact.

India is seeking the removal of this additional tariff (26 per cent). It is also seeking the easing of tariffs on steel and aluminium (50 per cent) and the auto sector (25 per cent).

These issues are an important part of the trade pact negotiations, the official said.

Against these, India has reserved its right under the WTO (World Trade Organization) norms to impose retaliatory duties.

The country is also seeking duty concessions for labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, grapes, and bananas, in the proposed trade pact.

On the other hand, the US wants duty concessions on certain industrial goods, automobiles, especially electric vehicles, wines, petrochemical products, agri goods, dairy items, apples, tree nuts, and genetically modified crops.

The two countries are looking to conclude talks for the first tranche of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by fall (September-October) this year. Before that, they are looking for an interim trade pact.

India's merchandise exports to the US rose 22.8 per cent to USD 25.51 billion in the April-June quarter this fiscal year, while imports rose 11.68 per cent to USD 12.86 billion.