US delegation arrives in India amid tariff dispute, important meeting to be held from today

New Delhi. Amid the ongoing brainstorming to resolve the tariff issue between India and the US and prepare a framework for a bilateral trade agreement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament House on Monday. Both the ministers informed him about the progress made so far in the tariff dispute case.

This meeting has taken place at a time when the US trade delegation led by Brendan Lynch, in-charge of trade affairs for South and Central Asia, is coming to India on Tuesday on a five-day visit. The US delegation’s visit from March 25 to 29 is considered very important from the point of view of preparing a framework for a bilateral trade agreement.

US President Donald Trump has said that he has very good relations with New Delhi, but the problem is the tariff structure. America will not give relief to India from the new tariff system and will implement it on India from April 2 in accordance with the reciprocal tariff principle.

The meeting is important because
During PM Modi’s visit to America last month, both sides agreed to enter into a mutually beneficial trade agreement. For this, Goyal and Jaishankar held talks with various parties during their US visit. Now the US Trade Board led by Lynch will hold talks with the Indian side on Tuesday. On this basis, the outline of the bilateral trade agreement will be prepared.

America wants to reduce the trade deficit
America wants India to make way for easy presence in its market to reduce the trade deficit. The biggest obstacle in this is the import duty imposed by India on select American products. India wants both the countries to expand trade and increase access to each other’s markets. Apart from this, emphasis should also be laid on supply-chain integration along with reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers.