India-US Trade Deal: Joint Secretary of the Commerce Ministry and India’s chief negotiator Darpan Jain is going to America next week. Their objective is to finalize the legal draft of the interim trade agreement based on the joint statement issued between India and America on February 7. This information was given by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Aggarwal on Monday.
He also told that America is preparing to reduce the 25 percent reciprocal tariff imposed on goods going from India to 18 percent. It is expected that this cut can happen this week.
The joint statement is being converted into a legal agreement
Rajesh Aggarwal said that the joint statement issued on February 7 is actually part of the framework deal that was agreed upon between India and America. The outline of the agreement was decided in that statement. Now the same outline is being made a firm legal agreement, on which both the countries will sign. At present, work is going on from both sides to finalize this legal document.
He also told that next week the chief negotiator Darpan Jain will go to America with his team, so that the legal draft of the agreement can be finalized. Efforts are being made to complete the entire work by March and sign the agreement. However, he did not give any firm date as some legal issues are still to be resolved.
Rajesh Aggarwal said that the 25 percent additional tariff that was imposed on Indian goods from August 27 has now been removed. This tariff was imposed as a punishment for purchasing crude oil from Russia. Now there is talk of reducing the second 25 percent reciprocal tariff to 18 percent. On this he said that the process is going on and it is expected that the decision will be taken this week. If there is a delay due to any reason, then next week the Indian team will be in America and after going there it will be clarified as to why there is a delay.
Zero tariff and market access will be implemented only after agreement
Rajesh Aggarwal clearly said that there are some goods on which reciprocal tariff can be completely eliminated i.e. reduced to zero. But this will come into effect only when a legal agreement is signed between the two countries. He also said that any reduction in tariff, greater market access or any kind of concession from India’s side will be given only when the agreement is officially signed.
A big joint statement came on 7th February
On February 7, India and America came very close to an interim trade agreement. In a joint statement issued on the same day, it was said that American tariffs on Indian goods would be reduced from 50 percent to 18 percent. Also, there was talk of zero duty on some selected products, steps to open the market and further strengthening the economic relations between the two countries. This agreement was possible after long negotiations lasting almost a year.
Piyush Goyal said historic step
On February 7, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had called it a historic and balanced agreement. He had said in the press conference that the world’s largest economy, a 30 trillion dollar market, will open new doors for Indian exports. This will greatly benefit our small and medium industries, farmers, fishermen, youth, women and skilled people of the country.
