India seeks deeper trade relations with the United States through tariff reduction and bilateral agreement
Days after US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs targeting countries imposing higher import duties on American goods, India on Friday expressed its intention to deepen trade relations with the United States by negotiating a comprehensive bilateral trade deal.
Trump, reinforcing his "America First" stance, declared earlier this week that reciprocal tariffs would be implemented from April 2 on multiple trading partners that currently levy high import duties on US products.
In its first official reaction, New Delhi conveyed optimism for a friendly resolution to the emerging trade issues. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal highlighted recent discussions during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US last month, where both nations agreed to pursue negotiations for a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who recently visited the US and held meetings with his counterparts, is actively involved in advancing these discussions. Jaiswal underlined the government's objective, stating, "Our goal through the BTA is to strengthen and deepen India-US bilateral trade across both goods and services, enhance market access, significantly reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and further integrate supply chains between our two nations."
The ongoing dialogue between the two major economies indicates a strong mutual interest in enhancing trade ties despite recent tariff disputes, signaling a potential breakthrough in India-US trade relations.
