Kamal Ghorui
Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Friday met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and reviewed the next steps in negotiations for the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA).The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 14th ministerial conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organisation in Yaounde, Cameroon, where both sides also exchanged views on issues related to the WTO agenda.“Had a very productive discussion with @USTradeRep Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the WTO Ministerial Conference. Exchanged views on the #WTOMC14 agenda, next steps in the India-US BTA negotiations and explored ways to further deepen our economic cooperation and bilateral trade ties,” Goyal said in a social media post.The development comes amid ongoing efforts by both countries to finalise an interim trade pact. Last month, India and the US announced that they had finalised a framework for the first phase of the agreement, though it is yet to be signed.The two sides had earlier announced a trade deal on February 2, followed by a joint statement on February 7 outlining the contours of the agreement.As part of the framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18%. However, the tariff structure has since undergone changes after the US Supreme Court struck down sweeping tariffs imposed under earlier measures.Following the ruling, US President Donald Trump introduced a 10% tariff on all countries for a period of 150 days starting February 24.In view of these developments, a planned meeting between chief negotiators of India and the US — aimed at finalising the legal text of the agreement — has been postponed. The pact was earlier expected to be signed this month.An official had earlier said that the interim trade agreement would be signed once the new global tariff framework of the US is fully in place.
