India-US bilateral trade agreement talks progress: Digital trade, market access in focus

New Delhi: India and the US discussed issues related to digital trade, investment promotion and economic security alignment in the recently concluded round of meetings to finalize the details of the Interim Agreement and take forward the negotiations under the broader bilateral trade agreement (BTA), the government said Friday.

The talks were held from April 20-23 in Washington, the first in-person meeting after October.

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"The meetings were conducted in a constructive and positive spirit with meaningful and forward-looking discussions enabling progress on key matters," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.

India and the US issued a joint statement on February 7 finalising a framework for an interim trade agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.
The framework reaffirmed the countries' commitment to the broader BTA negotiations.

"Multiple areas such as market access, non-tariff measures, technical barriers to trade, customs and trade facilitation, investment promotion, economic security alignment and digital trade were discussed," it said.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal Monday said that India and the US have almost finalised the first tranche of their BTA and that New Delhi will discuss a mechanism to get preferential market access for its goods in the American market during the talks. The talks took place after a 40-minute phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump last week.

"Both sides agreed to remain engaged to maintain this momentum as they move forward," the ministry said.

India and the US had announced a framework for an interim agreement on February 7, and the US removed a 25% penal tariff on India for buying Russian oil and announced a cut in the reciprocal tariff to 18% from 25%.