NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump have agreed to advance negotiations on the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), ANI reported on Saturday citing sources. The development comes on the same day when foreign secretary Vikram Misri hinted that New Delhi might be considering liberalising tariffs.
This mutually beneficial agreement, finalised in February 2025, aims to boost market access, reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and enhance supply chain integration.
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To achieve the goals of the agreement, both leaders have decided to appoint senior representatives to accelerate negotiations, enhance trade relations and foster economic cooperation, the sources revealed.
The BTA is expected to impact various sectors, including goods and services. By increasing market access and reducing barriers, the agreement will facilitate smoother trade flows and create new opportunities for businesses on both sides.
India hints at tariff liberalisation
A day after Trump claimed that India had agreed to bring down tariffs, foreign secretary Vikram Misri refused to comment on the US president’s remark. He, however, added that India in recent years had signed several trade pacts with partners based on tariff liberalisation.
“There’s a lot of interest in statements coming out of the United States. I will not get into that at this point of time because these are ongoing discussions… But I would only point you towards the fact that we have in recent times entered into bilateral trade agreements which are based on tariff liberalisation with several partners,” he said.
“There are ongoing discussions with several other partners on these issues now. I think the ongoing discussions should be seen in that context. That is our general approach and it applies to any such engagement we have,” he added.
April 2 deadline
Sources indicate that India is optimistic about resolving the tariff issue with the US in the coming weeks, ideally before the April 2 deadline.
This was reflected in the MEA’s response on the same, which said, “Our objective through the BTA is to strengthen and deepen India-US two-way trade across the goods and services sector, increase market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration between the two countries.”
India has already lowered its average applied tariffs for major developed nations, including Australia, UAE, Switzerland, and Norway, under recently concluded trade agreements.
Ongoing talks
A delegation, led by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, had visited Washington from March 3 to 6, for discussions with the US counterpart on the trade agreement. The talks were part of a broader initiative to expand bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, with a focus on key sectors such as energy, defense, and technology.
“Commerce and industry minister (Piyush Goyal) was in US and met his counterparts. Our objective through the BTA is to strengthen and deepen India-US two-way trade across the goods and services sector, increase market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration between the two countries,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said on Friday.
