In a high-stakes diplomatic push, officials from India and the US are fine-tuning a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement. Vast swaths of the deal enjoy alignment, save for prickly disputes over duty structures and enforcement sequencing.
Stability and mutual assurance in trade flows drive the endeavor. Progress has surged lately, confining unresolved items to a select few. Negotiators at the technical tier continue hashing out details, eyeing nods from the US Trade Representative and India’s Commerce Ministry en route to Modi-Trump sign-off.
The leaders’ string of recent calls has nurtured this initiative, complemented by Trump’s bullish Davos nod to a fortified US-India trade bond.
Striking at the heart of tensions, the pact may scrap America’s 50% levy on Indian imports, a summer 2019 measure battering textiles foremost. Total trade has nonetheless nudged upward; textiles endured strains but niche categories and drug shipments posted gains.
American judicial overhangs raise eyebrows—a Supreme Court verdict on tariff prerogatives dismissed as immaterial presently, yet a prospective pitfall. Alternative statutes bear rigorous curbs on tariff breadth and tenure, risking friction with current trade philosophies.
Congressional enthusiasm for elevating India-US economic synergy endures across aisles. Immigration snags, including visa fee hikes for skilled migrants, nonetheless unsettle corporate circles, tinting relational optics beyond trade’s direct purview.
Finalization of this long-sought deal vows to dismantle trade barriers, invigorate Indian sectors like textiles and pharma, and cement enduring commercial trust between the world’s largest democracies.