According to India’s foreign minister, before the 90-day halt on reciprocal tariffs expires on July 9, Delhi is “hopeful” of achieving a trade agreement with the US.
Speaking to the French newspaper Le Figaro on Tuesday, S. Jaishankar, who is now on a four-day trip to Belgium and France, stated that trade talks between the US and India had already started prior to Trump’s announcement of his ‘Liberation Day’ duties on international partners on April 2—and up to 27% on India.
“Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi visited with Donald Trump in February and they agreed to expand open access to our respective markets,” Jaishankar told the newspaper. We hope to reach an agreement before the end of the tariff suspension on 9 July.
A US team met with representatives of the Indian commerce ministry behind closed doors earlier in the day in Delhi.
“The current round of trade discussions with U.S. officials has been fruitful and “helped in making progress towards creating a mutually advantageous and balanced accord including via attainment of early gains,” an anonymous Indian official told Reuters news agency.
With $190 billion in bilateral trade, the US was India’s most significant commercial partner until recently. Although India has already lowered tariffs on a number of products, such as motorbikes and bourbon whisky, the US still has a $45 billion (£33 billion) trade gap with India, which Trump is eager to close.
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