Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer this week on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministerial scheduled in Wisconsin on Wednesday and Thursday.
Goyal is likely to begin his trip to the US late Monday, an official said.
The bilateral meeting comes at a time when the US has passed a law authorising President Donald Trump to impose up to a 100 per cent tariff on India for its energy purchases from Russia. The final decision on whether to levy tariffs, and their rate and coverage, remains with Trump.
Besides the tariff threat emanating from the Graham Act, Washington’s probe against India alleging excess capacity under Section 301 of the US Trade Act is also underway. The Office of the USTR has already imposed a 10 per cent extra tariff on Indian goods after concluding a separate Section 301 investigation in July that claimed the involvement of forced labour in the supply chain.
Forced labour and excess capacity are also part of the G20 Trade Ministerial discussion agenda.
“Greer will spearhead discussions with the G20 Trade Ministers on a wide range of issues, including eliminating forced labor in global supply chains, updating the Most-Favored Nation (MFN) principle, denouncing the weaponisation of trade in food, and addressing structural excess capacity and production,” the Office of the USTR said in a press release.
Indian exporters are hopeful of some clarity on India-US trade from the meetings this week, but given how the last two years have panned out, some element of uncertainty may still remain, Federation of Indian Export Organisations Director General Ajay Sahai said.
“We expect the Indian delegation to flag New Delhi’s concerns and elaborate on its standpoint on the Russia-linked tariff as well as Section 301 investigation on overcapacity,” Sahai said.
India should emphasise that its Russian oil imports only aim to ensure energy security in the country. “On excess capacity allegations, the delegation must clarify that our manufacturing is in line with the pace of our growing economy,” Sahai added.
Meanwhile, India also remains engaged with the US for a trade deal, the terms of which were “almost done and dusted”, Goyal had said on Thursday. New Delhi is now only waiting for Washington to devise a mechanism to ensure India gets a tariff edge under the deal over other competing economies. Goyal has reiterated the position several times in the past, including on Thursday.
Discussions on the deal are expected this week. “But any concrete outcome on the trade deal is likely to depend on the other party (the US) as they have to devise a mechanism to ensure competitive tariff for India,” Sahai said.
Both sides had proposed the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in February last year and had also issued a joint statement on the first tranche of the agreement in February this year, agreeing on a lower reciprocal tariff of 18 per cent for Indian goods. However, soon after, the Supreme Court of the United States scrapped the legal basis of the reciprocal tariff.
Since then, both sides have held several rounds of negotiations to update the terms of the deal.
