The sixth round of trade negotiations between India and the United States is scheduled to take place in New Delhi in the second half of August, as both countries seek to finalise a bilateral trade pact. A team of US officials will visit India for the talks, news agency PTI reported.
Last week, Indian and US representatives concluded the fifth round of discussions in Washington. The Indian delegation was led by Rajesh Agrawal, special secretary in the Department of Commerce and the country’s chief negotiator, while the US side was headed by Brendan Lynch, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia.
The recent talks are understood to have covered a range of issues, including agriculture, the automobile sector, non-market economies, and SCOMET (Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment, and Technologies).
New Delhi and Washington have been aiming to conclude an interim deal before August 1, which marks the end of the suspension period for additional tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. In 2020, the US had levied a 26 percent tariff on certain Indian goods as part of a broader protectionist move under then-President Donald Trump.
India is pressing for the removal of this 26 percent tariff, as well as the rollback of elevated duties on steel and aluminium (currently at 50 percent) and the auto sector (25 percent). In turn, India is seeking duty concessions for labour-intensive exports such as textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oilseeds, grapes, and bananas.
However, some farmer groups have urged the Indian government not to include agriculture-related concessions in the agreement.
The US, for its part, is looking for lower duties on a wide range of products including industrial goods, automobiles—particularly electric vehicles—petrochemicals, wines, dairy products, apples, tree nuts, and genetically modified crops.
