India trade negotiators set to visit US this week, may agree to buy more natural gas from US to bridge trade gap

New Delhi: Indian trade negotiators will visit the US this week for trade talks, a top official said Monday, adding that the talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) are progressing well. Both sides are hopeful of concluding the first tranche of the pact by the year-end deadline, the official said. “Discussions between India and the US are moving in a positive direction. A team will visit Washington this week,” the official said.

New Delhi may also buy more natural gas from the US to bridge the trade gap, which is currently in India’s favour.

A team of officials from the US Trade Representative (USTR) was planning to visit New Delhi for an official round of talks in October. However, due to the ongoing US government shutdown, the Indian team will travel to hold an inperson round of talks.

Officials are yet to determine whether this round can be called an ‘official round’, as the US government shutdown remains in effect.

The US government entered a shutdown on October 1 after Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on a bill to fund government services into October and beyond. On Sunday, US ambassador to India Sergio Gor met commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal, where discussions centred on enhancing economic ties, with an emphasis on boosting American investments.

So far, five rounds of BTA negotiations have taken place. An American trade team visited New Delhi for a day of talks in September, followed by a trip to Washington by an Indian delegation led by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal.The negotiations are crucial as the US has slapped 50% tariffs on Indian goods, half of which are for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, which came into effect August 27. The pact aims to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, from the current $191 billion.

EU TRADE TALKS

India and the EU are yet to iron out issues related to steel, automobiles and the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) following the 14th round of free trade agreement (FTA) talks, which concluded in Brussels on Friday, an official said.

“Talks are progressing well. There are issues which need resolution such as steel and automobiles. No major issue is pending in agri,” the official said.

The next round of negotiations could take place by the end of the month. Both sides are eyeing a year-end deadline.

India, Canada Discuss Ties on Energy, Tech

India and Canada have discussed possibilities to increase cooperation in areas such as energy, technology and food security, reaffirming New Delhi’s commitment to strengthening trade ties based on mutual trust and respect, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said. Goyal met Canada’s foreign affairs minister Anita Anand on Monday.