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Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said talks with the US on the proposed bilateral trade agreement are progressing. He said that the US team is in New Delhi for the negotiations. "Talks are continuously progressing with them. We are moving forward towards a bilateral trade agreement," Goyal told reporters here at the Pravasi Rajasthani Divas. He indicated that he may meet the visiting US official team. A delegation led by Deputy US Trade Representative (USTR) Rick Switzer is in the national capital for two-day trade talks with his Indian counterpart Rajesh Agrawal. The US' chief negotiator for the pact, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, will hold discussions with India's chief negotiator and Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Darpan Jain. The visit is crucial as India and the US are working to finalise the first tranche of the pact. This is the US officials' second trip since the imposition of a 25 per ce
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that the US will have to fix countries like Brazil and India, asserting that these nations need to react correctly to America by opening their markets and refraining from actions that could harm American interests. The Trump administration has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, including a 25 per cent tariff on New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, among the highest tariff rates imposed on any country in the world. "We have a bunch of countries to fix, like Switzerland, Brazil, India - these are countries that need to really react correctly to America. Open their markets, stop taking actions that harm America, and that's why we're off sides with them," Lutnick said in an interview with NewsNation. Lutnick said that these countries have to understand that if "you want to sell to the US consumers, you've got to play ball with the President of the United States." Apart from India and Brazil, Lutnick also mentioned countries like Taiwan and
The Walt Disney Co. will pay a USD 10 million fine to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging it allowed personal data to be collected on kids under 13, violating federal law. The FTC said Tuesday Disney violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, which requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parents' consent before collecting personal information of children under 13. According to the complaint, Disney failed to properly label some videos that it uploaded to YouTube as Made for Kids. The mislabeling allowed Disney, through YouTube, to collect personal data from children under 13 viewing child-directed videos and use that data for targeted advertising to children, the FTC said. That's because, since the videos weren't labeled as being for kids, they included targeted advertising. Representatives for Disney did not immediately return a message for comment. Google, the parent company of YouTube, agreed to pay USD 170 million in a similar settlem
President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have announced a sweeping trade deal that imposes 15% tariffs on most European goods, warding off Trump's threat of a 30% rate if no deal had been reached by August 1. The tariffs, or import taxes, paid when Americans buy European products could raise prices for US consumers and dent profits for European companies and their partners who bring goods into the country. Here are some things to know about the trade deal between the United States and the European Union: What's in the agreement? Trump and von der Leyen's announcement, made during Trump's visit to one of his golf courses in Scotland, leaves many details to be filled in. The headline figure is a 15% tariff rate on the vast majority of European goods brought into the US, including cars, computer chips and pharmaceuticals. It's lower than the 20% Trump initially proposed, and lower than his threats of 50% and then 30%. Von der Leyen said the two s
The Commerce Ministry has cautioned the domestic industry to strictly follow the US 'rules of origin' norms while exporting goods to America, as re-routing products from high-tariff countries without substantial value addition could be classified as transhipment and attract higher duties, an official said. The ministry has also assured the industry that all efforts would be made to codify the value addition norms to provide certainty and clarity to exporters, the official said. The issue was deliberated at length during a stakeholder consultation on India-US trade ties, convened by the ministry on May 2 here. The stakeholder consultation was chaired by Special Secretary in the ministry Rajesh Agrawal. He is also India's chief negotiator for the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA). Transhipment refers to the process of importing products from one country and then exporting to another, usually without significant processing or value addition. In a meeting with exporters last mon
The commerce ministry on May 2 held a comprehensive consultation with the domestic industry on the proposed India-US trade agreement and sought suggestions to further deepen bilateral trade ties in a mutually beneficial manner, an official said. The stakeholder consultation was chaired by Special Secretary in the ministry Rajesh Agrawal. He is also India's chief negotiator for the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA). During the meeting, Department of Commerce briefed the industry representatives on recent developments related to India-US trade ties and solicited their views and suggestions to further expand them in a mutually beneficial manner, the official added. The special secretary assured the industry that their inputs would be factored in the ongoing trade negotiations. Senior representatives from industry bodies including Confederation of Indian Industry, FICCI, PHDCCI, India Cellular and Electronics Association and Assocham participated in the deliberations. The first