New Delhi, May 31 (H.S.): Chief trade negotiators from India and the United States will hold a four-day meeting in New Delhi beginning June 1 to finalize the details of the proposed interim trade agreement between the two countries. The framework for the interim trade pact was agreed upon in February.

Official sources said on Sunday that the visiting U.S. delegation will be led by chief negotiator Brendan Lynch, while India’s negotiating team will be headed by Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce. India and the United States had issued a joint statement on February 7, expressing mutual agreement on the framework of a mutually beneficial interim trade agreement.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, “Both sides have proposed finalizing the details of the interim agreement and advancing negotiations under the broader bilateral trade agreement in areas including market access, non-tariff measures, customs and trade facilitation, investment promotion, and economic security.”

The agreed framework reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to negotiations on a comprehensive India–U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

Earlier, an Indian delegation visited the United States from April 20 to 23, during which officials from both sides met in Washington to advance discussions. To carry forward the negotiations, the U.S. team led by the chief negotiator will visit India from June 1 to June 4. The two sides are now expected to work toward finalizing the legal draft of the agreement.

It is noteworthy that U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to reduce tariffs on India from 50 percent to 18 percent. The United States had also withdrawn the 25 percent tariff imposed on Indian goods in connection with India’s purchases of Russian oil, while the remaining 25 percent tariff was to be reduced to 18 percent under the proposed agreement.

However, following a ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. President announced the imposition of a 10 percent tariff on imports from all countries for a period of 150 days, effective February 24. In light of these developments, a meeting between the chief trade negotiators of India and the United States, which had been scheduled in February, was subsequently postponed.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar