New Delhi: In what can be seen as navigating the way on a dense foggy morning, Tuesday’s in-person meeting between trade negotiators from the United States and India is a step ahead in the right direction.
Expectations gained ground with the meeting between the US Assistant Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, Brendan Lynch, and India’s chief negotiator, Rajesh Agrawal, in New Delhi.
It was the first face to face engagement since Washington imposed a hefty 50 per cent tariff on India, terming it a punitive action for buying Russian oil during the Ukraine crisis.
The moment came after days of intense deliberations and virtual consultations after a US team postponed its visit to India for the sixth round of bilateral trade talks scheduled for August 25-29.
Tuesday’s meeting was more of an attempt at breaking the ice after weeks of frozen air over the fate of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The immediate, tangible outcome of the New Delhi session is a political and diplomatic reset rather than a signed agreement.
The tone of the meeting was described as constructive, with a signal that both countries want to keep the negotiation window open despite recent frictions. It underlined a mutual interest in moving forward while leaving substantive compromises to later, fuller rounds of talks.
The United States is pressing for greater market access across goods and services, stronger intellectual property protections, and clearer rules on data and technology trade and investment.
The sticky part remains, among others, India protecting its agriculture sector to ensure food security and fair prices to growers. The US may be urged to moderate its initial posture by narrowing the focus on some products.
There is a belief in certain sections that India may permit narrowly-tailored, phased access for premium or niche US agricultural products and value added dairy items. Such products do not directly threaten the livelihoods of small farmers.
Among such products are premium dairy and specific commodities, like corn, and prioritising outcomes that yield measurable export gains for US farmers and producers, rather than a wholesale opening of India’s domestic markets.
As widely quoted, a report of the India-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has pointed out that the progress of talks depends on White House agreeing to roll back the additional 25 per cent duty.
This additional levy was imposed on Indian goods linked to Russian oil imports.
There is also a buzz that India may also consider limited, reciprocal tariff reductions or tariff rate quota (TRQ) arrangements for particular industrial goods, combined with stronger safeguards for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and protections for sensitive public procurement or food security measures.
The aim would likely be to look for a feasible near term architecture in a phased, sector by sector approach.
This may mean beginning with a limited agreement, covering industrial goods, certain services, and targeted agricultural items, combined with institutional mechanisms.
Such a package would allow both sides to claim early wins while deferring the hardest domestic policy decisions to later rounds under monitored commitments.
India’s patience and resilience have paid off despite the pressures coming from the White House.
If both countries sustain the current momentum and convert preparatory discussions into concrete, phased commitments, formal talks can be expected to resume soon.
(IANS)
