Trade Deal: US delegation to India from today amid tariff dispute, Jaishankar-Goyal meet PM Modi

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Parliament House amid the ongoing tussle between India and America over preparing the outline of a bilateral trade agreement by resolving the tariff issue. Both the ministers informed him about the progress so far in the tariff dispute case.

The meeting comes at a time when the US trade delegation led by Brendan Lynch, in-charge of South and Central Asia, is coming to India on Tuesday on a five-day visit. The visit of the US delegation from 25 to 29 March is being considered extremely important from the point of view of preparing the framework for a bilateral trade agreement.

US President Donald Trump has said that he has very good relations with New Delhi, but the problem is the tariff structure. The US will not grant India relief from the new tariff regime and will also apply it to India from April 2 in line with the mutual tariff principle.

During PM Modi’s visit to America last month, both sides had agreed to enter into a mutually beneficial trade agreement. For this, Goyal and Jaishankar had talked to various parties during their visit to America. Now the US Trade Board under the leadership of Lynch will hold talks with the Indian side on Tuesday. On this basis, the outline of a bilateral trade agreement will be prepared.

America wants India to make way for its simple presence in its market to reduce trade deficit. The biggest obstacle in this is the import duty imposed by India on selected American products. India wants both the countries to expand trade and increase access to each other’s markets. Apart from this, emphasis should also be laid on supply-chain integration along with reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers.