A US-India mini trade deal could be announced as early as later this evening. “The deal has been negotiated, the customs part of the deal is expected to be announced today while the other aspects would be come in later,” said a source privy to the development.
India has been negotiating for enhanced market opportunities for Indian textiles, pharmaceuticals and electronics in the United States.
For its part, the US has been pushing India for greater access to its agriculture and dairy sectors.
A source confirmed that the customs part of the deal – tariff rates across items traded between the two countries – have been negotiated. However, contentious issues around permitting US Genetically Modified (GM) crops to India and access to India’s dairy sector have likely been kept out of the deal.
The mini-trade deal could also include limited tariff cuts on American cars.
US President Donald Trump had set a deadline for July 9 for trade deals, after which suspended levies would be reinstated on trading partners. The US President had also said that tariff letters will be sent out to countries today.
“It could be 12, maybe 15 letters.. and we’ve made deals also, so we are going to have a combination of letters and some deals have been made,” US President Donald Trump said. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that: “Tariffs go into effect on August 1.”
Early April, US President Donald Trump announced a 10% base tariff rate on most countries and additional duties ranging up to 50%, the so-called reciprocal tariffs.
India and US have set timeline to complete the first phase of a bilateral trade agreement between them by September-October this year.
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