India’s commerce negotiations with the US is getting into the ultimate leg, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal set to satisfy members of export promotion councils (EPCs) on Tuesday, and the US commerce crew more likely to arrive in India subsequent month for talks as New Delhi goal to wrap up negotiations by the top of the 90-day reciprocal tariffs pause, which ends on July 9, The Indian Specific has learnt.
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 looking for the elimination of the 26 per cent reciprocal tariff and duty-free entry for labour-intensive export gadgets similar to textiles and footwear within the US.
Indian items presently entice a ten per cent baseline US tariff which might proceed even after the commerce deal comes into impact.
India and the US had earlier determined to conclude the primary part of the proposed bilateral commerce settlement by the autumn (September–October) of this 12 months. Nevertheless, either side have now agreed on an interim commerce deal earlier than the primary tranche, to be finalised by July 9. The interim deal is anticipated to cowl a restricted vary of products and companies, with the US looking for market entry in India for gadgets together with agricultural merchandise.
Nevertheless, US President Donald Trump has continued his tariff rhetoric focusing on India. After Apple introduced {that a} majority of iPhones to be offered within the US can be produced in India, Trump mentioned on Friday that Apple must pay a 25 per cent tariff if it offered iPhones within the US which can be in-built India or elsewhere.
Trump additionally said that he had informed Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner he doesn’t need the corporate to develop its manufacturing operations in India until it’s to serve the Indian home market.
Furthermore, an April report by the Workplace of the US Commerce Consultant (USTR) criticised varied Indian commerce limitations, together with “localised web shutdowns that disrupt industrial operations” and rules requiring that “dairy merchandise meant for meals have to be derived from animals that haven’t consumed feed containing blood meal”.
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“India requires that dairy merchandise meant for meals be derived from animals that haven’t consumed feed containing inner organs, blood meal, or tissues of ruminant or porcine origin, and that exporting nations certify to those situations, which lack a discernible animal well being or human well being justification,” the report mentioned.
Highlighting doable US calls for within the ongoing negotiations, the report 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”.
Indicating that Washington fears one other China within the making, the report mentioned the US has positioned India on the ‘Precedence Watch Record’ attributable to inconsistent progress on mental property (IP) issues. It highlighted the absence of particular legal guidelines for commerce secret safety as a major difficulty, alongside lengthy ready intervals for patent grants.
The US remained India’s largest buying and selling companion for the fourth consecutive 12 months in 2024–25, with bilateral commerce valued at $131.84 billion. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India’s complete items exports, 6.22 per cent of imports, and 10.73 per cent of the nation’s complete merchandise commerce.
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With the US, India had a commerce surplus (the distinction between exports and imports) of $41.18 billion in items in 2024–25. It was $35.32 billion in 2023–24, $27.7 billion in 2022–23, $32.85 billion in 2021–22, and $22.73 billion in 2020–21.
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