Industry ‘excited’ about trade pact with US : Piyush Goyal
NEW DELHI : Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal on Thursday hinted at a quick decision by India and the US on the principal elements of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between the two countries.
“The talks (for BTA) are progressing well and will be for the benefit of both countries,” he said at a Summit. The minister added that industry and various interest groups are excited about the prospects of the BTA.
The comments signalled the hope that the US might still give India a carve-out from the reciprocal tariffs, scheduled to take effect from April 2, because the BTA would address the world’s largest economy’s concerns about access to Indian markets.
Goyal’s comments came as three-day bilateral talks between Indian officials and their visiting US counterparts on the contours of the BTA will conclude on Friday. The US side is led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch.
Reports suggested earlier that India is open to cutting tariffs on more than half of US imports worth $23 billion in the first phase of a trade deal.
When asked about the outcome of possible imposition of reciprocal tariffs by the US from April 2 on India, Goyal said, “We have the courage of conviction to say that India’s growth story will be intact.. India will continue to power the global economy.”
Goyal said the government is “in touch with every section of the industry, every sector.” “Organisations related to agriculture exports, engineering, electronics, textiles. various interest groups are in regular dialogue with the government. All are very excited about potential BTA with the US,” he added.
India is among other countries have sought carve-outs ahead from the reciprocal tariffs. Earlier this week, the government announced scrapping of a 6% levy on online advertisement, completing the eliminatio of the “Google tax” on firms accessing Indian markets with digital means. This is seen as big positive for Big Tech, which is aggressive on the thriving Indian markets.
Apart from contours of the agreement, the schedule of the negotiations would also be finalised in the ongoing bilateral talks being held here. As the agreement will be in tranches, and the first tranche to be signed by the end of this year, both sides will be initially focusing on goods trade. The talks are also focussed on finalising Terms of Reference of first tranche of talks towards the proposed BTA.
On Wednesday an official said that the Indian Industry is paranoid of the US proposal of reciprocal tariffs and has asked the government to conclude the BTA at the earliest.
The industry is worried that if reciprocal tariffs are imposed a lot of jobs will be at stake and asked for either deferment or protection from those tariffs.
While both sides discuss BTA, President Donald Trump has gone ahead and increased taxes on steel, aluminium and automobiles. He has promised to follow up higher duties on pharma and other products of strategic importance. This complicates the negotiations on the BTA but both sides remain engaged.