India-America trade deal can be discussed soon. For this, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Jameson Greer started talks on issues related to the first phase of Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) here on Tuesday. The meeting of officials of both the countries is going on on this issue.
It is expected that a decision on this issue will be taken soon in the meeting being held in New Delhi. US President Donald Trump had said on June 17 that both the countries are very close to finalizing the trade agreement. Earlier on June 5, Piyush Goyal had said that India and America are moving towards resolving all the pending issues of the interim trade agreement. Both sides can implement the first phase of BTA by the middle of next month.
It is a matter of 50 percent fee
Both sides had finalized the outline of the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement in February. This framework was based on the 50 percent duty imposed by the US on Indian goods. However, on February 20, the US Supreme Court struck down these sweeping tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. After this, on February 24, the Trump administration imposed 10 percent duty on all countries for 150 days under Section 122 of the Trade Act, which will end on July 24 this year. Due to these changes in the American tariff system, this meeting between the two sides is considered important.
It was agreed to reduce it from 50 to 18%.
India and America formally started BTA negotiations on 13 February 2025. On February 7, 2026, both sides had announced to prepare a framework for a mutual and beneficial interim agreement. Under this framework, America had agreed to reduce the duty on India from 50 percent to 18 percent. The 25 percent duty imposed on purchasing oil from Russia was also removed and the remaining 25 percent was to be reduced to 18 percent under the agreement. However, the US Supreme Court struck down these charges. Under the framework, India proposed to eliminate or reduce duties on all US industrial goods and several food and agricultural products such as distillers dried grains (DDG), red sorghum, dry fruits, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, wine and spirits.
India will purchase 500 billion dollars
India has also expressed its intention to buy American energy products, aircraft and their parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal worth $500 billion in the next five years. After the change in fee structure in America, both the parties are reconsidering the outline of the agreement. There is also a provision in the February joint statement that if there is a change in the tariffs of any country, the other country can also amend its commitments. Meanwhile, the US Trade Representative on March 11 and 12 initiated an investigation under Section 301 against about 60 countries, including India. At the time the framework of the phase one agreement was finalized, India had an edge over competing countries like ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia), Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. America had then fixed 18 percent duty on Indian goods, while it was 19-20 percent on competing countries. However, now 10 percent additional duty is applicable equally on all countries.
