India, US officials meet in Washington to discuss bilateral trade agreement
In a move aimed at finalising the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, representatives from India's Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative engaged in productive discussions in Washington between April 23 and 25.The two sides have set a target to conclude the first tranche of the agreement by Fall 2025, with September-October set as the tentative deadline, a statement from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry stated. advertisementThe recent meeting followed an earlier bilateral trade discussions that happened in March in which Brendan Lynch, the Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, came to India for crucial trade discussions.
"During the meetings in Washington, D.C., the team had fruitful discussions on wide-ranging subjects covering tariff and non-tariff matters. The team discussed the pathway for concluding the first tranche of the mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement by Fall of 2025, including through opportunities for early mutual wins," the statement read."While productive sectoral expert-level engagements have taken place through the virtual format, in-person sectoral engagements are planned from the end of May," the statement said.These discussions were part of the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement talks that started in line with the Leaders' Statement of February 2025 to enhance and expand economic ties and supply chain integration.advertisementThis meeting came after US Vice President JD Vance made a four-day diplomatic visit to India with his family and announced that the US and India had officially finalised the terms for trade talks in the Business Summit at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, last week, as per AIR.US President, Donald Trump, has imposed 26% tariffs on India, which was put on a 90-day hold and base tariffs of 10% were made applicable. This pause is set to expire on July 9, 2025.Some sources reported that these BTA talks were held to discuss a proposed trade pact with terms of references (ToRs) covering around 19 chapters, such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and customs facilitation.India's Chief Negotiator, Additional Secretary to the Department of Commerce, Rajesh Agrawal, led the team. He was appointed as the next commerce secretary on April 18 and will assume office from October 1.The two countries have targeted to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (September-October) with an aim to more than double the bilateral trade from the current USD 191 billion to USD 500 billion by 2030.
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