India-US bilateral trade deal: In-person talks may begin by May-end

India and the United States (US) are trying to finalise a trade deal as ‘quickly as possible’, with both sides gearing up for starting negotiations by the second half of May, a senior commerce department official said on Tuesday.

 

Virtual discussions on sectoral issues will start this week.

 

The terms of reference (ToR) of the India-US proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) was finalised and signed last month, during the visit of the US Trade Representative (USTR) team to New Delhi.

 

India is also looking at non-tariff barriers as well as tariff barriers in the agreement. If these barriers are reduced