NEW DELHI: Indian government is hopeful of working out a win-win trade deal with the US after PM Narendra Modi and US president Donald Trump signalled early Friday that a bilateral agreement will be in place by fall 2025. “If you look at our trade basket, India’s exports are very different from what we import from the US. So, it will be beneficial for both the countries,” a senior govt official told TOI.
An Indian official said the deal will see import duties being cut on both sides, something that will help blunt the impact of reciprocal tariffs. Besides, removing non-tariff barriers is also part of the negotiating agenda.
The said India would look to increase the import of American oil, gas and defence equipment to address Trump’s concern over the trade deficit. Already, some of the concerns over tariffs on products that are of interest to the US, such as Harley Davidson bikes, bourbon whiskey and Californian wine, have sought to be addressed over the last two weeks through reduction in import duty – something that the two leaders also took note of in the joint statement released after their meeting at the White House
Going forward, there could be reduction in levies on products such as pecan nuts and some other farm products that India is importing, not necessarily from the US.
“Both sides also pledged to collaborate to enhance bilateral trade by increasing US exports of industrial goods to India and Indian exports of labour-intensive manufactured products to the US. The two sides will work together to increase trade in agricultural goods,” the joint statement said.
For India, services are the other area of interest, although it is unclear if that will be part of the trade deal that is to be negotiated in next few months. Visas for Indian workers and professionals will be the other area of interest for govt, but that may be something on which Trump has domestic sensitivities.
On goods side, India will seek to push products such as textiles and leather, some of which attract duties which are as high as 40% in the US.