NEW DELHI, India — A team of Commerce Ministry officials is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., next week for trade discussions with their U.S. counterparts, officials said.
The talks come ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s planned visit to New Delhi next month and will focus on advancing negotiations on an interim trade agreement between the two countries.
The meeting had originally been scheduled for February 23 but was postponed after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariff hikes. The court ruled that the executive branch had exceeded its constitutional authority by using emergency powers to impose broad import duties.
Following the ruling, both sides delayed the visit to allow time to assess the implications of the decision and agreed to set a new date that would be convenient for both countries.
After the setback, the Trump administration raised global tariffs from 10% to 15%.
India and the United States had been at an advanced stage in finalizing the first phase of a bilateral trade agreement, with the U.S. previously agreeing to reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18%. However, the tariff framework has since shifted following the Supreme Court’s decision.
The upcoming discussions are also expected to address the United States Trade Representative’s Section 301 investigation launched last month, which includes India and China among roughly 60 economies under review.
The investigation aims to determine whether the acts, policies, and practices of these economies related to the failure to ban imports of goods produced with forced labor are unreasonable or discriminatory, and whether they burden or restrict U.S. commerce. (Source: IANS)
