first-tranche-of-india-us-trade-deal-may-be-final-soon-official

India and the United States may be set to announce a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) as soon as November-end, as per a government official involved in the negotiations. 

The first tranche of the two-part deal between the two nations would be finalised once Washington revokes the penalty tariffs of 25 per cent that it imposed on India for buying Russian crude oil and thereby funding Moscow’s Ukraine war. India, on its part, would be required to open its market to duty-free imports of soyabean, corn, and certain dairy products, the official added. 

“The deal is expected to be announced before the end of November. The Russian oil issue is well-settled, and US President Donald Trump has also acknowledged it. So, the penalty tariffs will be withdrawn,” said the official, who is privy to the ongoing negotiations that currently involve ironing out differences in reciprocal tariff rates on industrial and agricultural goods. 

With India’s imports of Russian oil marginally declining in October, and the country’s private oil refiners having decided to stop Moscow’s crude oil purchases by December this year, the focus now is on finalising reciprocal tariffs that comprise one part of the BTA.

 

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Two ranges of reciprocal tariffs are being discussed, said sources, between 12 and 15 per cent, or between 15 and 19 per cent. 

India has reportedly agreed to buy soyabean, which is classified as non-genetically modified, directly from the industry. With the corn imported from the US, India plans to produce ethanol. However, the US is not yet pushing India for large purchases of soyabean since China is currently buying it from the country.

On dairy products, a sensitive issue for the agrarian India, the country has agreed to limited imports under strict safeguards, the official said. 

“Based on certain conditions, it may allow a few dairy products, but not liquid milk,” he added. 

Earlier this week, Trump had said the US was getting close to reaching a deal with India that would expand economic and security ties between the two countries. At the swearing-in ceremony of Sergio Gor as an envoy to India, the US President had said, “We’re getting a fair deal, just a fair trade deal… We’re making a deal with India, much different deal than we had in the past.”