India & US to finalise contours of BTA this week, says Official

New Delhi: India and the US will finalise the contours, schedule of negotiations and terms of reference of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during the three-day talks, starting Tuesday, an official said.

The agreement would be finalised in two tranches and the first phase is expected to focus on issues pertaining to goods trade, but by end of this week there will be a full clarity on it, the official said.

The official added that since the US is a developed economy, a trade agreement with India would bring more predictability in tariffs, regulations, and economic integration.

A good trade deal can create a lot of synergy for “lot of two-way trade and investments,” the official said.

To formally start the negotiations on the agreement, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, along with a team of officials, will be visiting India from March 25-29.

During the three-day deliberations, “we will be finalising the contours of the BTA and will discuss the terms of reference of the BTA, besides working on some of the aspirations that we want to meet under the tranche one and two of the pact,” the official said. The two countries are targeting to conclude the first phase or tranche of the agreement by fall of 2025.

The official, however, clarified that this week’s talk is not the first round of negotiations.

“We will try to finalise the schedule of negotiations as in how we will start first round, second round etc. We have been engaging virtually on BTA but now formally we are getting into the mode, where we will be entering into the negotiations,” the official said.

Normally in such trade pacts, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on maximum (90-95 per cent) number of goods traded between them. Besides, they ease norms to promote trade in services and boost investments.