India-US trade talks: Deputy USTR to lead team to India next week

Assistant USTR and the Chief Negotiator of the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations Brendan Lynch, along with other senior officials from USTR

A US trade delegation, led by Deputy US Trade Representative (USTR) Rick Switzer, will visit India next week at a time India is aiming to conclude the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) before the end of the calendar year, according to people privy to the matter. 

Assistant USTR and the Chief Negotiator of the proposed trade deal Brendan Lynch, along with other senior officials from USTR, will be a part of the delegation travelling to New Delhi to take stock of the deal. Switzer, who was confirmed as the deputy USTR in September, will be making his first visit to New Delhi. 

The USTR officials are expected to hold meetings with senior commerce and industry ministry officials, including commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal, as well as the chief negotiator from the Indian side, Darpan Jain. However, the meeting won’t be a fresh round of negotiation, and will be an attempt to get clarity on what’s holding back the finalisation of the deal, one of the persons cited above told Business Standard. 

Over a 20-year foreign services career, Switzer has served as the US State Department visiting professor teaching graduate courses on economy, and a member of the State Policy Planning Council, among many roles.  Prior to his appointment, he was the founder of ProjX Technology Consulting. 

Negotiations were launched in March and till now half a dozen rounds of negotiations have been held, with the last informal round being from 15-17 October in Washington. Last week, Agrawal had said that India is hopeful of finalising a “framework trade deal” with the US by the end of this year, addressing the reciprocal tariff issue weighing on Indian exports. “It is only a matter of time before this decision is taken… It’s a call that will have to be taken at multiple levels,” said Agrawal. “…There is not much to negotiate. There are very few issues and a political call needs to be taken about some of them.” 

Talks with the US have been moving in parallel on two tracks – the broader BTA, which will take longer, and the framework deal that would address the 50 per cent tariff burden on exporters. 

Ajay Srivastava, former trade ministry official and founder of think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that the visit may likely aim to signal US “presence” rather than deliver results. “New Delhi should not expect movement on a US–India trade deal from a deputy-level delegation: decisions and announcements on tariff relief or an FTA are made in the Oval Office, not in mid-tier trade missions. The visit may be about pressing India for fresh concessions—without offering any in return,”

Srivastava said. 

Having already cut substantial purchases of Russian Crude, as President Trump himself has acknowledged, India has earned more than platitudes. The minimum gesture of goodwill from Washington should be the immediate withdrawal of the 25 per cent “Russian oil” tariff now choking Indian exports,” Srivastava said, adding that until those duties go, there is little reason for India to negotiate a trade deal.