A trade delegation from the United States is going to visit India from March 25-29 to hold talks with their Indian counterpart as the deadline for ‘reciprocal tariff’ nears.
The US delegation will be led by Brendan Lynch, assistant trade representative for South and Central Asia.
“The visit reflects the United States’ continued commitment to advancing a productive and balanced trade relationship with India,” a US embassy spokesperson said on Monday.
The negotiation is going to take place in the backdrop of the April 2 deadline when US President Donald Trump is widely expected to impose reciprocal tariffs on a host of countries, including India, who have often been targeted by the present administration for having high tariff barriers for US goods and services.
While the threat of tariffs which will hurt Indian export looms, the two countries are also beginning negotiations on a free trade agreement which may be a reality by the second half of this year.
Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal spent almost a week in the US earlier this month for trade talks and vowed to protect the Indian interest in the trade talks.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhury said on Monday that India and the US would focus on increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers and enhancing supply chain integration.
“Both countries plan to negotiate a mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement,” Chaudhry added.
The balance of bilateral trade between two countries is in favour of India which indicates India exports more to the US than it imports from there.
A target has been set by two countries to take bilateral trade to $500 billion by the end of this decade when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US in February.
“We value our ongoing engagement with the government of India on trade and investment matters and look forward to continuing these discussions in a constructive, equitable, and forward-looking manner,” the US embassy spokesperson said.