India said yesterday its officials held “constructive” talks with US counterparts during a visit to Washington this week, and both sides agreed to continue discussions aimed at concluding a mutually beneficial trade deal soon.
“Both sides exchanged views on possible contours of the deal,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.
A delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited the US from September 22 to 24 and met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and ambassador-designate Sergio Gor. Goyal and Greer also joined a meeting between India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson said.
“The focus of the discussion was on trade and tariffs. Other aspects of our bilateral relationship were also reviewed,” foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a briefing.
A senior government official said New Delhi is pushing for the removal of the 25 per cent additional tariff imposed by Washington on goods from India for its buying of Russian oil, with both sides aiming to conclude the first part of the deal by autumn. On August 27 President Donald Trump announced a 25pc punitive levy on Indian imports, doubling overall tariffs on goods imports from the country to 50pc, as part of Washington’s pressure campaign on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
“Like many other countries we are expecting a bilateral deal with lower than 25pc tariff,” the official said.
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