No Major Differences Between India and US on Tariff Issues: Rajesh Agrawal

New Delhi: The Indian team, led by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, returned home on Sunday after completion of talks with American officials. A senior commerce ministry source said senior officials in both India and the US discussed the existing tariff issues to protect their countries’ interests and concluded the meeting smoothly as there was ‘no major difference’ between them.

The source also said that India discussed various issues related to the US tariff and its impact on India’s agricultural sector, small businesses and farmers. “As for purchasing oil from India, India is committed to purchasing Russian oil and will continue to do so in the future,” he said.

“Although we remain loyal to our decision to buy Russian oil, oil imports from the USA are not ignored. We are trying to balance this somehow. Our relevant officials are in regular contact with both countries,” the source added. In overall trade, the United States is India’s largest partner and is trying to significantly reduce the high 50 percent U.S. tariff imposed on India until November this year. “Discussions on the proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and the US are proceeding in a ‘cordial atmosphere’, emphasizing that New Delhi will protect the interests of farmers, fishermen and the MSME sector,” commerce minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. he said.

However, the commerce ministry noted that although India was still doing better in exports to the US compared to the previous year, there were some parts of the supply chain that were struggling with trade challenges. “Despite high tariffs, India’s exports to the US grew 13.3 percent in the first half of the year, reflecting resilience amid global trade challenges,” the ministry said recently.

“India wants to diversify its energy import portfolio depending on availability at the right price, stating that it can import more crude oil and natural gas worth $12-13 billion from the US without changing the configuration of refineries,” the ministry said.