India, US to hold trade talks in Washington next week ahead of Rubio visit

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal. File pic

A team of officials from India's Commerce Ministry is set to travel to Washington next week to hold trade discussions with US officials. According to officials, the meeting will continue earlier discussions on an interim trade agreement between the two countries and help move negotiations forward, reported IANS.

The talks come ahead of the planned visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to New Delhi next month, adding importance to the ongoing engagement.

With both sides preparing for high-level engagement, the upcoming talks are expected to help clarify outstanding trade issues and keep negotiations on track ahead of further diplomatic exchanges.

Focus on interim trade agreement

The upcoming discussions will focus on building on earlier progress made in negotiations for a bilateral trade deal between India and the United States. Officials said both sides have already held multiple rounds of discussions, and the Washington meeting is expected to take these talks further.

A senior official said the engagement will help "take forward discussions that have already been held on the interim trade agreement," reported the news agency.

Why was the visit postponed earlier?

Earlier, a planned meeting between the chief trade negotiators of both countries scheduled for February 23 in the US was postponed. This happened after the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's broad reciprocal tariff hikes, saying the executive branch had exceeded its authority by using emergency powers for such measures.

Following this ruling, India and the US decided to review the developments before fixing a new date for talks. After the court setback, tariffs in the US were later increased from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.

India and the US had earlier reached an advanced stage in finalising the first phase of a bilateral trade agreement. The Trump administration had reportedly agreed to reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent.

However, officials said the tariff structure changed after the Supreme Court ruling, affecting the earlier progress. The postponement of the Indian delegation's visit was intended to allow both sides to reassess the situation and decide a suitable time to resume talks.

Issues on forced labour investigation

The upcoming meeting is also expected to address a separate issue involving the United States Trade Representative (USTR). The USTR has launched a Section 301 investigation covering India and several other countries, including China and nearly 60 economies.

The investigation will examine whether policies related to banning and enforcing restrictions on goods made using forced labour are adequate. It will also assess whether such practices affect US trade interests, as per the news agency.

Officials said this issue is likely to be part of broader trade discussions during the Washington visit.

(With IANS Inputs)