US team to visit India on Aug 25 for next round of talks for trade pact

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The US team will visit India on August 25 for the next round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement between the two countries, an official said on Tuesday.

The official added that the two sides continue to be engaged in an interim trade deal as the August 1 deadline is approaching.

August 1 marks the end of the suspension period of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on dozens of countries, including India (26 per cent).

"The US team is visiting for the sixth round of talks," the official said.

India and the US teams concluded the fifth round of talks for the agreement last week in Washington.

India's chief negotiator and special secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal and Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch held the deliberations.

These deliberations are important as both sides are looking at finalising an interim trade deal before August 1.

On April 2 this year, Trump announced 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.

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 looking at 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.

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 $25.51 billion in the April-June quarter this financial year, while imports rose 11.68 per cent to $12.86 billion.