First round of India-US BTA talks begins in Washington

THE FIRST IN-PERSON meeting between chief negotiators of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between India and the US after the finalisation of the terms of reference (ToR) got underway in Washington on Wednesday with both sides aiming to iron out issues for a faster deal over the next three days.

- FE BUREAU

The Indian delegation led by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal left for the US earlier this week. During the meetings, both sides will try to gauge the level of ambition each one has on liberalising trade. Each side is expected to indicate how many products it would like the BTA to cover for tariff reduction, the pace of reduction in import duties and other non-tariff and regulatory matters, to ease trade.