New Delhi: India’s commerce negotiations with the US are getting into the ultimate leg, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal set to satisfy members of export promotion councils (EPCs) on Tuesday. The US commerce staff is more likely to arrive in India subsequent month for talks, as New Delhi goals to wrap up negotiations by July 9, the top of the 90-day reciprocal tariffs pause.
In accordance with a report by The Indian Categorical, the session assembly with EPCs is scheduled after Goyal led the Indian delegation to Washington final week, the place he met US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to advance commerce talks.
India is in search of the elimination of the 26% reciprocal tariff and duty-free entry for labor-intensive export gadgets equivalent to textiles and footwear within the US. Nevertheless, US President Donald Trump has continued his tariff rhetoric focusing on India, stating that Apple must pay a 25% tariff if it bought iPhones within the US which are in-built India or elsewhere. The US can be in search of market entry in India for gadgets together with agricultural merchandise.
The Workplace of the US Commerce Consultant (USTR) has criticized numerous Indian commerce limitations, together with rules requiring that “dairy merchandise meant for meals have to be derived from animals that haven’t consumed feed containing blood meal”. The USTR report additionally flagged India’s rules on the import of milk, pork, and fish merchandise, stating that they require genetically modified (GM)-free certificates “with out offering a scientific or risk-based justification”.
The US remained India’s largest buying and selling associate for the fourth consecutive yr in 2024-25, with bilateral commerce valued at $131.84 billion. India had a commerce surplus of $41.18 billion in items in 2024-25, up from $35.32 billion in 2023-24. Each international locations goal to conclude an interim commerce deal by July 9, protecting a restricted vary of products and companies. The interim deal is anticipated to pave the best way for a broader commerce settlement, to double bilateral commerce to $500 billion by 2030.
Exterior Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal have harassed the urgency of clinching a bilateral commerce deal that safeguards India’s pursuits. The following spherical of talks with the US will likely be held in New Delhi, with a staff of American officers anticipated to go to within the coming weeks.