With a team of US officials expecting to visit India next month for trade talks, there is a possibility that the two countries may agree on an interim trade pact by June 25, sources said.
"Talks are moving. Things are on track," they said.
India's chief negotiator, Special Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal, concluded his four-day visit to Washington last week. He held talks with his US counterpart on the proposed agreement. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was also in Washington last week to give an impetus to trade talks.
He met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick twice during his visit. Both sides are looking at an interim trade deal before the first tranche of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) as the USA's 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on India is suspended till July 9 this year. It was imposed by the US on April 2.
However, Indian goods still attract the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed by America. In the interim trade deal, New Delhi is pushing for full exemption from the 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on domestic goods. Both countries have fixed a deadline to conclude the first phase of the proposed BTA by the fall (September-October) of this year.
The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at USD 131.84 billion. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in the country's total merchandise trade. -- PTI
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