NEW DELHI: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and his counterpart US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer spent the last two days reviewing the progress of the trade deal with market access, digital trade, supply chain resilience, reduction of non-tariff barriers and expanded cooperation in strategic sectors being on the table.While the initial tranche of the trade deal is largely focused on Indian opening up its market for American goods once the US provides clarity on how the new tariff structure will work, an official statement only made a mention of finalising an interim trade deal and did not mention any timeframe.“Both sides noted substantial progress by negotiating teams in recent months and welcomed the momentum from successive technical and ministerial-level engagements. Discussions focused on pathways to conclude an interim agreement as an important milestone toward a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to an agreement that is balanced, commercially meaningful, and delivers tangible benefits for businesses, farmers, workers, and consumers in both countries,” the commerce department said in a statement. The statement said both countries discussed pathways to conclude an interim agreement and reaffirmed their commitment to a deal that is “balanced and commercially meaningful”.Before the start of ministerial level talks, Indian officials had indicated that the meeting will seek to give “finishing touches” to the framework deal, whose implementation had been suspended after the US Supreme Court termed “reciprocal tariffs” illegal. As part of the framework agreement, the reciprocal tariff on India was pegged at 18% over and above the MFN duty on products. In a statement released to ANI, Greer said he has underlined the US commitment to advancing a constructive, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial economic partnership with India that supports growth, opportunity and prosperity in both countries.He said that US president Donald Trump and PM Narendra Modi have decided to take the ties between the two countries to next level in every aspect of relationship, including the trade deal and technologies. “We know that India has a long history of agriculture, of manufacturing, but we also know that they’re moving forward in technology. They want to move forward in AI. “They want to cooperate and collaborate with the US on the technologies of the future and trade of the future, and that’s some of the exciting opportunities that we’ll have between the United States and India, to capitalise on that,” Greer said.
