By Swastika Chowdhury
A set of new trade deals are scheduled to happen between India and the US on Tuesday, for which the Chief negotiator is to arrive tonight.
The chief negotiator, Brendan Lynch, who also is the assisstant US trade representative for both South and Central Asia is supposed to land in India tonight to pan out the discussions on Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with his Indian counterpart, on Tuesday. The Indian counterpart here is Rajesh Agarwal, who also is the special secretary in the department of commerce.
The visit is followed by the recent social media clash between the country leaders President Trump and Prime Minister Modi, in context with the imposition of US tariffs on Indian imports, particularly in relation to the Russian oil imports.
The two nations have engaged in peace talks which had happened previously as several negotiations have followed in the past months to seal the deal on interim trade. However, ANI reported that Indian officials have raised concerns over US’s demand to open up the agriculture and dairy sector as this happens to be one of the most sensitive areas of India. This also happens to be so because of the large sector of the Indian population that generated its livelihood from this sector.
The Bilateral Trade Agreement talks were introduced this year in March with the motive to have already wrapped up the first stage of agreement talks around October-November.
The context of the BTA around this time is regarding the imposed and escalating US tariffs on India. President Donald Trump initially announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods, which within days changed to an escalated rate of 50% tariff citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil.
The following measures on tariffs came into effect from 27th August. Even though the recent relations have been strenuous, President Trump in his announcement at the White House stated how Indian PM Modi will still remain to be friends, claiming there was nothing to worry about.