Trade Agreement
India, US to improve market access, cut duty under trade pact - Junior finance minister
This story was originally published at 14:09 IST on 24 March 2025
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NEW DELHI – India and the US will focus on increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and enhancing supply chain integration under the proposed trade agreement, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in the Lok Sabha Monday.
"The Government of India continues to engage with the Government of US to achieve enhancement and broadening of bilateral trade ties in a mutually beneficial and fair manner," Chaudhary said in a written reply to a question in the Lower House. "Both countries plan to negotiate a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement."
In February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump had met and agreed to negotiate the trade agreement and set a target to take the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Both sides have also set an aim to conclude the first tranche of the deal by the fall season this year.
The proposal for a trade pact comes at a time when the US has announced it will impose reciprocal tariffs from Apr. 2 on all countries, including India, based on the duty levied by them on American goods. The US' reciprocal tariffs on India may entail an average duty hike of at least 5% on Indian exports to the US, as American goods face a weighted average tariff of 7.7% in India, while Indian exports to the US face only a 2.8% average tariff.
The US is India's top export destination, with a share of 17% in the total merchandise exports. In 2023-24 (Apr-Mar), India exported goods worth $77.52 billion to the US and had a trade surplus of $35.32 billion. End
US$1 = INR 85.49
Reported by Krity Ambey
Edited by Tanima Banerjee
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