ABOUT a dozen officers from India will reach Washington on April 20 for three-day talks with the US authorities on the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA), an official said. As the tariff landscape has changed in the US, both sides may like to relook at the framework of the agreement, the text of which was released on February 7. Following the decision of the US Supreme Court against the sweeping tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on a number of countries, the Trump administration imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all countries from February 24 for 150 days. “The meeting will happen from April 20-22 in Washington DC.

 

India’s chief negotiator Darpan Jain (Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce) is leading the team. Officers from Customs and External Affairs Ministry are also part of the Indian team,” the official said. Further, the two unilateral investigations launched by the US Trade Representative (USTR) may also figure in the three-day deliberations. India has strongly rejected allegations made by the US Trade Representative in those two investigations under its Section 301 of trade law and has requested to terminate the probes as the initiation notice has failed to provide cogent rationale to substantiate the claims. According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent, from 50 per cent. It had removed the 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods for buying Russian oil and was to cut the remaining 25 per cent to 18 per cent under the pact. But on February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s reciprocal tariffs which were imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).