India, US near pact to ease trade barriers

India and the United States aim to announce an early harvest deal next month with both sides allowing greater market access to each other by removing both 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.

- Rajeev Jayaswal

NEW DELHI:

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

The early harvest deal, which is an early-stage agreement, will be followed by the first tranche of a comprehensive Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by September-October 2025 as proposed by the two leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump on February 13 in Washington.