India, US Announce Plans To Negotiate First Phase Of Mega Trade Deal By This Year

Washington: In an ambitious move, India and the US agreed to conclude the first phase of a mutually beneficial ambitious trade pact by this year and set a target of USD 500 billion in annual bilateral trade by 2030, even as President Donald Trump asserted that Washington would not spare New Delhi from reciprocal tariffs. Issues relating to trade and tariffs figured extensively in a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump, which took place hours after the US President announced a new reciprocal tariff policy for all the US trading partners. At a joint media briefing with Modi, Trump announced that he and Modi agreed on a deal that would facilitate India to import more US oil and gas to bring down Washington's trade deficit with New Delhi.

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The bilateral trade between India and the US was around USD 130 billion last year, and the US trade deficit stands at around USD 45 billion at present. The two leaders demonstrated mutual commitment to address bilateral trade barriers, per officials. Sources said PM Modi had detailed discussions with President Trump on the concerns on both sides regarding market access and the concerns arising from "other territories" with overcapacity that take advantage of consumption in countries like India and the US. The two leaders discussed ways and means to address these issues in an overall context and instructed the teams to work together on a mutually beneficial trade deal to address these concerns, they said. "Whatever India charges, we will charge them," Trump said on tariff, and added, "We are being reciprocal with India."

US-India Set 'Mission 500' Trade Goal, Plan Bilateral Trade Agreement by 2025

Modi and Trump resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation, a joint statement said. "To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade – 'Mission 500' – aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030," it said. Recognising that this level of ambition would require new, fair-trade terms, the leaders announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the fall of 2025, it said. To advance this innovative, wide-ranging BTA, the US and India will take an integrated approach to strengthen and deepen bilateral trade across the goods and services sector and will work towards increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepening supply chain integration, according to the statement.

India-US trade pact phase one agreed

In his remarks to the press, Trump called import duties imposed by India on certain US products "very unfair" and "strong". The statement said the US welcomed India's recent measures to lower tariffs on US "products of interest" such as motorcycles, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) products and metals, as well as measures to enhance market access for US agricultural products, like duck meat, and medical devices. India also expressed appreciation for Washington's measures to enhance exports of Indian mangoes and pomegranates to 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 also work together to increase trade in agricultural goods, per the joint statement.

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Modi and Trump committed to driving opportunities for US and Indian companies to make greenfield investments in high-value industries in each other's countries. In this regard, the leaders welcomed ongoing investments by Indian companies worth approximately USD 7.35 billion, such as those by Hindalco's Novelis in finished aluminium goods at their state-of-the-art facilities in Alabama and Kentucky, JSW in steel manufacturing operations at Texas and Ohio; Epsilon Advanced Materials in the manufacture of critical battery materials in North Carolina. These investments support over 3,000 high-quality jobs for local families, according to the joint statement.