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India US Trade Deal
India and the US have concluded most of the discussions for a proposed bilateral trade pact, and they are now fine-tuning the agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. "We have concluded most of the discussions and are fine-tuning the agreement," he said here while talking about the India-US trade agreement. The minister is here on a two-day official visit. He is accompanying a business delegation. Addressing the India-Netherlands Business Forum here, he said India has concluded nine free trade agreements in the last four and a half years. India and the US, in February, announced finalisation of the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA). However, changes in the tariff landscape in the US have led to further negotiations on the pact.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will begin his three-day visit to India on Tuesday to advance bilateral ties in energy, trade and investment, defence, critical technologies, and exchange views on the West Asia crisis. Rubio's second India visit this year comes amid persistent friction in bilateral ties. During his earlier trip in May, he held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, besides attending a Quad foreign ministers' meeting. The US Secretary of State is expected to be accompanied by a large business delegation, and his October 20-22 trip is likely to focus largely on boosting India-US economic engagement. In their meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon, Jaishankar and Rubio are expected to deliberate on ways to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. Rubio is scheduled to land at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 2.15 pm, according to the Ministry of External Affairs ...
The US is "very close" to finalising a trade deal with India, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday, suggesting that the waiver from tariffs for buying Russian oil was linked to the decision. "We're trying to finalise the trade deal with India right now. We're very close to doing that. So that's one of the things we take into consideration when the President makes a decision about national security waivers and things of that nature," Rubio told reporters in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Rubio is set to travel to India and meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai to discuss issues ranging from energy, trade, defence, critical and emerging technologies and other key areas of bilateral cooperation. Rubio appeared to acknowledge the reasons for India to continue buying oil from Russia, an issue that has been the focus of talks between him and Jaishankar since the US passed the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act in September. "You also can't unravel the economy of other ...
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday expressed hope that the India-US trade agreement would be concluded at the earliest, in the interest of global trade and bilateral economic ties between the two countries. "I think recently the Indian Commerce Minister has also spoken that they expect and wish to have the agreement signed soon. Negotiations have been going on. I hope, in the interest of global trade and in the interest of trade between the two partners, India and US, the trade agreement gets concluded at the earliest," she said. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the first phase of the India-US trade pact has been finalised and is undergoing legal drafting. On trade with China, Sitharaman said the growing trade imbalance and persistent restrictions on market access for Indian products remained major concerns, despite years of engagement with Beijing. India has consistently sought market access in China for products such as generic medicines, ..
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Thursday said negotiations for a bilateral trade deal were moving at an "incredible pace", and the "big items are done", underlining that he was confident that both sides will get the pact through. During an interactive session at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum here, Gor also echoed External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's assessment of the progress in the proposed India-US trade pact, saying "we are very close to landing it". Asked about the status of the negotiations, Gor said, "I won't like to get into too many details at this stage, and let the ministers announce that. But in the grand scheme of things, big items are done." "We're actively engaged... Within three weeks of arriving here, we announced a trade deal. The European Union trade deal took almost 20 years. So we're at an incredible pace, and I am confident that we will get it done," Gor said. The India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was successfully concluded in January after nearly
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the first phase of the India-US trade pact has been finalised and is undergoing legal drafting. He expressed hope that it would be finalised soon and operationalised once India secures a competitive advantage over its peer countries. "US bilateral trade agreement's first tranche has been finalised and it is going through final contours, the legal drafting and we hope to be able to finalise that soon and operationalise that once we get the competitive advantage over our peer countries," Goyal said here at an event. He also said that the free trade agreement between India and the European Union will be inked in December and would come into force from February or March next year.
India and the US are continuing to engage to iron out differences on the proposed trade deal, and negotiations are heading towards a "landing point," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, while noting that the core fundamentals of the bilateral strategic partnership remain unchanged. The external affairs minister's comments on the trade negotiations came over a week after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the talks on the trade deal have reached a "plateau". "I think we are waiting on a few things. I wouldn't be comfortable spilling the beans in public," he said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Tuesday evening when asked about the status of the negotiations between the two sides. Jaishankar said India's trade minister, the US Trade Representative (USTR) and other officials concerned are engaged in talks to move forward on the bilateral trade pact. "When countries negotiate with an economy like the United States, obviously one part of it is what you work out .
The US and India announced in February that they had reached a framework for an interim trade agreement, but circumstances have changed, and the pact will be finalised accordingly, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. He also said that trade pact negotiations are on with number of regions including Israel, Chile, GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and Russia-led group Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). "USA (trade pact) February me announce hua. Thodi paristhitiyan badli hain, usko abhi madde nazar rakhte hue final hoga. (It was announced in February. Some circumstances have changed; the final decision will be made keeping that in mind)," Goyal said here while addressing members of industry chamber PHDCCI. India is seeking lower tariffs for its goods than its competitors in the American markets. The minister did not elaborate about those circumstances, but the changing tariff landscape in the US has led to further negotiations about the first phase of bilateral tr