With a little more than a week to go for US President Donald Trump’s April 2 deadline for reciprocal tariffs, a team led by assistant US trade representative Brendan Lynch will arrive in New Delhi on Tuesday for bilateral trade discussions.
The team led by Lynch, who is responsible for South and Central Asia, will be in India from March 25-29 for meetings with Indian interlocutors, the US embassy spokesperson said on Monday.
Concerns about an escalating trade war have grown around the world, including India, because of Trump’s threat of imposing reciprocal tariffs from April 2.
The visit of the American officials “reflects the United States’ continued commitment to advancing a productive and balanced trade relationship with India”, the US embassy spokesperson said. “We value our ongoing engagement with the government of India on trade and investment matters and look forward to continuing these discussions in a constructive, equitable, and forward-looking manner,” the spokesperson said.
Even as Trump reiterated his threat about the reciprocal tariffs last week, the external affairs ministry said the two countries are engaged in negotiations to build a framework to address issues such as levies and market access.
People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that India slashing tariffs may benefit China more than the US, as per existing international trade laws, and New Delhi and Washington should focus on finalising a framework for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during Lynch’s visit.
{{/usCountry}}People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that India slashing tariffs may benefit China more than the US, as per existing international trade laws, and New Delhi and Washington should focus on finalising a framework for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during Lynch’s visit.
{{/usCountry}}The people contended that the basic issues between the two sides are already settled, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump at their meeting in Washington last month agreed to the first tranche of a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement by the fall of 2025.
This, they said, is the first step towards the goal of expanding bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, one person said.“Both have agreed to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers for each other for mutual gains. But both want this arrangement to be exclusive for the two partners. Hence, a legal framework is required first to avoid extending MFN treatment to all WTO members,” he said.