Revamping Economic Ties: US-India Bilateral Trade Under Fresh Negotiation

In response to a US Supreme Court decision, India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement. Led by additional secretary Darpan Jain, the Indian delegation is finalizing details that could alter tariffs, aiming for a USD 500 billion trade target by 2030.

In the wake of the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn high tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, India and the United States are closely negotiating finer details of a bilateral trade agreement. Darpan Jain, an additional secretary in the Department of Commerce, leads the Indian delegation currently visiting the US for a three-day consolidation mission.

The two countries had initially announced the framework for the trade agreement in early February, with aims to achieve bilateral trade worth USD 500 billion by 2030. Under the proposed framework, the US agreed to reduce tariffs on Indian goods from 50 to 18 per cent, offering preferential access to US markets as part of the deal.

However, the US Supreme Court ruling against Trump's reciprocal tariffs has introduced new challenges to these negotiations. As global economic circumstances shift, nations including China, which has now overtaken the US as India's largest trading partner, are reevaluating their trade strategies with America.