The first tranche of the US-India trade deal is almost ready and the two countries would issue a joint statement in four-five days, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday as the first details emerged of the agreement between Delhi and Washington that US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on Monday night.
The formal agreement on the deal will take 30-45 days and will be signed in March, Goyal was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The joint agreement would be signed virtually, he said, and the US tariff on goods from India would be reduced to 18 per cent by executive order once the joint statement is signed.
“We want to get the agreement fast as we can get more concessions after that,” Goyal said.
Commerce secretary Rajesh Agarwal said: “India will reduce tariff on US once the legal
agreement is signed in March.”
Some clarity also emerged on Trump’s assertion that India will buy goods worth $500 billion from the US.
Aircraft demand and orders alone is $70-80 billion, it will be part of US purchases, Reuters quoted trade officials as saying,
They said India will need to import $300 billion per year worth of goods and the US would be one of the key suppliers of energy, aircraft, chips.
Over the next five years, India’s procurement will grow to $2 trillion and the US will supply $500 billion as part of it, the officials said.