India, US to hold wrap-up session on Saturday on proposed trade pact; talks in early stages: Sources
A team of US officials, headed by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, is here for negotiations on the proposed agreement.
«Early stage of discussions are going on,» one of the sources said, adding that nothing has been finalised so far.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the ongoing talks between India and the US for the proposed pact are progressing «well» and will be for the «good» of both nations while protecting India's interests.
The official level deliberations assume significance as US President Donald Trump has announced imposing reciprocal tariffs on April 2 on America's key trading partners, including India.
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He has on multiple forums stated that India imposes high tariffs on US goods. The US has already imposed duties on China.
Besides, higher import duties of 25 per cent are imposed on steel and aluminium from March 12. On March 26, Trump announced a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on completely built vehicles (CBUs) and auto parts, a move set to take effect on April 3.
Tariffs are import duties imposed and collected by the government and paid by the companies to bring foreign goods into a country.
India and the US are aiming to conclude the first phase or tranche of the agreement by the fall of 2025 (September-October). They have also set a target to more than double bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current over USD 190 billion.
While the US has demanded duty concessions in sectors like certain industrial goods, automobiles, wines, petrochemical products, agriculture items such as apples, tree nuts, and alfalfa hay; India may look at duty cuts for labour-intensive sectors like textiles.
Indian industry and