Representative image for India-US trade.
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New Delhi: India is hopeful to finalise the first tranche of the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the United States by the end of 2025, which will address the issues related to high tariffs, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Friday.
“We are very optimistic and very hopeful that we should find a solution within this calendar year,” Agrawal said at an event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
He said at negotiators level most outstanding issues have been resolved and the final call would have to be taken at the “political level”. Agrawal has been leading India’s side at the BTA negotiations, which was launched in March. So far six rounds of negotiations have been held. Apart from the structured physical negotiations, officials from the two sides have also been holding virtual meetings to iron out the differences.
According to the Commerce Secretary, officials from India and the US are engaged in two parallel negotiations – one for the long-term bilateral trade agreement, and the other a short-term deal to address the issues related to the high tariffs.
US President Donald Trump's administration has imposed a steep 50% tariff on import of a majority of Indian goods. This includes 25% reciprocal tariffs and an additional 25% penal tariff for India’s economic engagement with Russia.
According to the top Indian trade official, the first tranche of the trade deal would be focused on addressing the issues related to both the so-called reciprocal and the penal tariffs.
India and the US were initially targeting completion of the first tranche of the BTA deal by the fall 2025 (September-October). “With any trade negotiations the final deadlines cannot be because even if there is one sticking point or one sticking issue, which is in the mind of even one of the partners, the trade deal may not meet that deadline,” Agrawal said underlining the last-minute hurdles.
Earlier speaking at the same event, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India is deepening its global trade outreach through negotiations at multiple levels.
The minister announced that, at present, India is negotiating free trade agreements with 14 countries or blocs representing around 50 nations. It includes the 27-nation European Union. Other countries include Oman, New Zealand, Bahrain and Qatar.
Goyal said the trade negotiations with Canada will restart next week.
"At this point of time we are in talks with 14 group of countries collectively representing around 50 countries of the world. Our focus is on countries of significance where we complement each other,” the minister said.
“We are talking to Oman while Bahrain and Qatar want to enter into negotiations with India along with the GCC countries. We are also talking to New Zealand, simultaneously with Australia on second stage agreement," he added.