Indian and US officials will hold three-day talks from April 23 in Washington for a proposed trade pact with terms of references (ToRs) covering around 19 chapters such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and customs facilitation, official sources said.
The Indian official team is visiting the US to give further impetus to the negotiations in the 90-day tariff pause window and discuss these ToRs to iron out differences on certain issues before formally launching talks for the bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
The team for the initial face-to-face negotiations between the two nations will be led by Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce and India’s principal negotiator. On April 18, Agrawal was appointed the new Secretary of Commerce. He will start working on October 1.
Both parties will discuss the degree of ambition. There will be further discussion and development of the Terms of Reference (ToRs). How will the conversations proceed? “The ToRs will cover topics such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, goods, services, customs facilitation, and regulatory issues,” the official stated, adding that in addition to scheduling, the broad outlines of the agreement will be reviewed to close the deal within ninety days.
The three-day discussions are significant because a senior government official recently said that if a temporary trade agreement is “win-win” for both parties, it may be concluded within the 90-day tariff break that the Trump administration has declared. The degree to which two nations are prepared to commit to certain trade liberalisation measures is referred to as the level of ambition in international trade terminology.
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