US and India towards tariff reduction agreement
Progress towards the conclusion of a trade deal that could lead to the reduction of tariffs on exports to the US from 50 per cent to 15-16 per cent
From our correspondent
NEW DELHI - India and the United States have reportedly made progress towards concluding a trade agreement that could lead to the reduction of tariffs on exports to the US from 50 per cent to 15-16 per cent. According to Mint, an Indian business and financial daily, the key sectors at the centre of the talks would be energy and agriculture.
Delhi has reportedly declared its willingness to reduce oil imports from Russia gradually and to purchase non-genetically modified maize and soya from the United States. Agricultural products and crude oil have been at the centre of tensions between the two countries for months. Washington would like to increase its exports to India and at the same time demand that New Delhi cease importing energy from Russia, indirectly feeding the Russian war machine. In reality, New Delhi's role is more complex because it exports its refinery products to the West and helps to keep oil prices down.
Given the centrality for the Indian economy of oil from Moscow and the political relevance of the farmers' constituency - which has put the Indian government in great difficulty in the past - it is highly probable that the agreement will not open the door completely to American agricultural products and that at the same time Russian energy imports will drop, but not disappear altogether.
US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to each other in recent days when the former called the latter to wish him well on the occasion of Diwali, the most important holiday in the Hindu calendar.
