The bilateral meeting between the trade representatives of both nations is crucial, given that India and the US have reached a consensus on a framework for a temporary trade agreement.
The delegation will be traveling to the US next week, according to the source.
Also read: India, US launch trade portal to enhance business relations, aiming for $500 billion trade by 2030
The agreement was initially expected to be signed in March; however, changes in the tariff landscape following a US Supreme Court ruling have affected the timeline.
Sources have previously indicated that the deal will be finalized once the new global tariff structure in the US is established.
In February, India and the US announced that a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement had been finalized. As part of this framework, the US agreed to lower tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent.
Nonetheless, the tariff structure in the US has changed after the Supreme Court ruled against former President Donald Trump’s extensive reciprocal tariffs.
Following this, the US president imposed 10 percent tariffs on all countries for a duration of 150 days starting from February 24.
Due to these developments, the meeting between the chief negotiators from India and the US was postponed last month. They were originally scheduled to convene in February to finalize the legal text of the agreement.
When India finalized the deal, it held a comparative advantage over its competing countries. Now, all US trading partners are contending with the same 10 percent tariffs.
The upcoming meeting is also significant as the USA is conducting two investigations under Section 301.
On March 12, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) initiated a Section 301 probe, encompassing 60 economies, including India and China.
These investigations will assess whether the practices and policies of each economy regarding the failure to effectively enforce a ban on imports produced with forced labor are unreasonable or discriminatory, potentially burdening or restricting US commerce.
On March 11, the USTR launched another Section 301 trade investigation, focusing on the policies and industrial practices of 16 economies, including India and China.
