INDIA and the US are planning to negotiate a trade agreement and both countries will focus on increasing market access, reducing import duty and non-tariff barriers, and enhancing supply chain integration, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said that as on date, reciprocal tariffs have not been imposed by the US on India. “Both countries plan to negotiate a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement. They focus on increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and enhancing supply chain integration,” he said.

 

The US issued a memorandum on reciprocal trade and tariffs on Feb 13, wherein the US Commerce Secretary and United States Trade Representative (USTR) are to take actions to investigate harm to America from any non-reciprocal trade arrangements. adopted by trading partners and provide a report with detailed proposed remedies for each trading partner. Tariffs are import duties imposed and collected by the government and paid by companies to bring foreign goods into the country.

 

During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington last month, India and the US announced their commitment to more than double the two-way commerce to USD 500 billion by 2030 and negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025. In 2023, the US-India bilateral trade in goods and services stood at USD 190.08 billion (USD 123.89 billion in goods and USD 66.19 billion in services trade). That year, India’s merchandise exports to the US stood at USD 83.77 billion, while imports were USD 40.12 billion, leaving a trade gap of USD 43.65 billion in favour of India. During 2021-24, America was India’s largest trading partner. The US is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus.