Identified the items but India-US trade deal not imminent, says USTR Jamieson Greer

The India-US trade deal is not “imminent” even if both sides have identified the “universe of items” that could make it to the table, said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. This comes after Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said a week ago that the India-US trade is “done and dusted”.

According to a report in Reuters, Greer said he had a “very constructive conversation” with Goyal at the G20 ​trade ministers meeting ​in Milwaukee, and also added that the officials from both sides are continuing the conversation.

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"I don't think there's ​something imminent, ​but ⁠we truly have identified the universe ​of items that ​are ⁠sticking points. We're working diligently toward them," he ⁠said, as mentioned in the news agency.

Meanwhile Goyal had said that the US-India trade would be done once Washington gives New Delhi the right competitive advantage over the American market. "We just have to find the right comparable competitive advantage over our competitor so that we can quickly execute the agreement,” said Goyal at an event, adding that India has finalised nine free trade agreements, including “the US, which is almost done and dusted”.

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While the US and India announced the finalisation of the trade framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement in February itself, the changes in the tariff structure led to further negotiations.

India is expanding its network of FTAs at a time of geopolitical tensions and surprise tariff announcements. India’s trade agreements would eventually provide preferential access to markets accounting for about 75 per cent of global GDP, Goyal had said.