No trade deal under time pressure: Piyush Goyal on pact with US

India does not enter into any trade agreement based on deadlines and will accept the proposed trade deal with the US only when it is fully finalised properly concluded and in the national interest Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on FridayHe also said that India is negotiating free trade agreements FTAs with different countries including the European Union New Zealand Oman the US Chile and PeruFTAs are possible only when both sides get benefitted and it should be a winwin agreement he told reporters when asked about the proposed interim trade agreement with the USNational interest should always be supreme Keeping that in mind if a deal is made then India is always ready to deal with developed countries Goyal saidWhen asked if an interim trade agreement between the two countries is possible by July 9 he said India never does any trade deal based on deadline or time frame When the deal is done properly and is completely finalised and is in the countrys interest then we will accept itJuly 9 marks the end of the 90day suspension period of the US President Donald Trumpannounced tariffs imposed on dozens of countries including India An additional import duty of 26 per cent was announced on Indian goods entering the USHe added that at present there is no plan to visit Washington for the trade talksMeanwhile an official said that the Indian team has returned from Washington after holding talks with the US on an interim trade pact but discussions will continue as certain issues in the agri and auto sectors still need to be resolvedHowever the official said that there is a likelihood of announcement of the deal before July 9The Indian team is led by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal He is Special Secretary in the Department of CommerceIndia has raised issues over 25 per cent duty in the auto sector and 50 per cent duty on steel and aluminium goodsNew Delhi has informed the WTO that it has reserved the right to impose retaliatory duties on select US products in response to American tariffs on steel and aluminiumOn March 26 2025 the US adopted a measure in the form of a tariff increase of 25 per cent ad valorem on imports of passenger vehicles and light trucks and on certain automobile parts originating in or from India a communication sent by India to WTO saidThe measure on automobile parts applies from May 3 2025 and for an unlimited durationThe US imported USD 89 billion worth of auto parts globally last year with Mexico accounting for USD 36 billion China for USD 101 billion and India for just USD 22 billionIn the agriculture sector the US is seeking duty concessions on products like dairy items apples tree nuts and genetically modified cropsHowever being a politically sensitive sector it will be difficult and challenging for India to provide any concessions in the agri sectorIndia has not opened up the dairy sector for any of its trading partners in free trade pacts the country has signed so farNew Delhi has hardened its position on giving duty concessions to American farm and dairy productsThe Indian team was in Washington for negotiations on an interim trade agreement with the US from June 26 to July 2These talks are important as the suspension of Trumps reciprocal tariffs is ending on July 9 The two sides are looking at finalising the talks before thatOn April 2 the US imposed an additional 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods but suspended it for 90 days However the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed by America remains in place India is seeking full exemption from the additional 26 per cent tariffWhile the talks for an interim trade agreement is on the US President has said that America will start sending letters to its trading partners on imposing unilateral tariff rates The letters would be going out to those countries with which the US has not been able to reach any kind of agreementThe US also wants duty concessions on certain industrial goods and automobiles especially electric vehicles wines and petrochemical productsOn the other hand India is seeking duty concessions for labourintensive sectors like textiles gems and jewellery leather goods garments plastics chemicals shrimp oil seeds grapes and bananas in the proposed trade pactIndia also wants a sustained preference over competing countries in our areas of interest in labourintensive areas of textiles and leather under the agreement the official addedThe two countries are also looking to conclude talks for the first tranche of the proposed bilateral trade agreement BTA by fall SeptemberOctober this year The pact is aimed at more than doubling bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billionBefore the first tranche the efforts are on for an interim trade pactThe US team was here last month for the talksIndias merchandise exports to the US rose by 2178 per cent to USD 1725 billion in AprilMay this fiscal while imports rose by 258 per cent to USD 887 billionThis story has been sourced from a third 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