India, US Aim to Unveil Early Harvest Trade Deal Next Month

The early deal would involve cutting duties on American automobiles, farm items

- Rajeev Jayaswal

India and the US aim to announce an early harvest trade deal next month, with both sides allowing greater market access to each other by removing tariff and non-tariff barriers for a majority of goods, including farm produce, while protecting sensitive items through a negative list or quota restrictions, officials aware of the development said.

The early deal involving low-hanging fruits such as automobiles and agricultural items would demonstrate New Delhi's earnestness to substantially reduce tariffs for American products. Similarly, Washington would reciprocate by removing the 10% reciprocal baseline tariff for Indian goods and withdrawing proposed India-specific 16% additional tariff from July 9, the officials said requesting anonymity.