Piyush Goyal, Jamieson Greer discuss next steps in India-US BTA talks

India and the US discussed next steps in bilateral trade deal negotiations on the sidelines of WTO MC14, amid evolving tariff policies and global trade uncertainties

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer on Friday held discussions on the ‘next steps’ in the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) negotiations between the two nations.

 

The discussions took place on the sidelines of the ongoing 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organization at Yaoundé, Cameroon. Goyal and Greer also held talks on the agenda of MC14. 

“Had a very productive discussion with USTR Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the WTO Ministerial Conference. Exchanged views on the WTO MC14 agenda, next steps in the India-US BTA negotiations, and explored ways to further deepen our economic cooperation and bilateral trade ties,” Goyal said on X. 

 

This is the first in-person meeting between Goyal and Greer since the US Supreme Court on February 20 revoked President Donald Trump’s authority to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for imposing country-specific “reciprocal” tariffs. Thereafter, from February 24, the US administration imposed a blanket 10 per cent surcharge on all countries for 150 days.

 

A senior Indian government official had earlier this month said that New Delhi will ‘wait’ to sign the interim trade deal with the US till the administration is ‘ready’ with the new global tariff architecture.

 

Both countries had announced a trade deal on February 2 and had planned to sign the pact by March. A joint statement for the same was released on February 7, and the 25 per cent additional ad valorem tariffs imposed by the US on certain Indian exports, citing India’s imports of Russian oil, were removed. According to the interim deal, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent.