A senior official has said that Washington’s discussions with New Delhi are making real progress
India has made the US its best offers so far in their ongoing trade talks, a top official has told a Senate panel.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday that discussions aimed at expanding America’s market access in India were progressing in Delhi, though there is resistance to certain proposals.
“They’ve been quite forward-leaning,” Greer said, according to a report on the NDTV website. “The type of offers they have been talking to us [about], have been the best we have ever received as a country. So, I think that is a viable alternative…”
India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday that talks between the two sides were progressing. “We are moving forward towards a bilateral trade agreement,” he told reporters.
India Has Been ‘A Tough Nut To Crack’ On Trade Deal, Says US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer
New Delhi can stand up for his own interests nowadays…
A delegation led by Deputy US Trade Representative (USTR) Rick Switzer is in New Delhi for another round of trade negotiations. This is the second trip by US officials to India since the country imposed a 25% reciprocal tariff and an additional 25% levy on New Delhi for the purchase of Russian oil. They last visited India on September 16.
Goyal also led an official delegation to the US for trade talks in September.
India is optimistic that a trade pact with the US can be reached by the end of the year, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal, India’s chief negotiator in the talks, said in November.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump threatened to slap additional tariffs on India, accusing New Delhi of dumping rice into the US market.
The US is India’s largest export market, accounting for exports worth $52 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year.
