India-US Trade Deal Push: Indian Delegation To Head to Washington This Month

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Delhi: An Indian delegation will visit Washington later this month as part of talks on theIndia-US trade deal. The development was confirmed by United States Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Thursday (April 9). In his X post, Gor said that he had a "highly productive” meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer with a focus on advancing President Donald Trump’s trade priorities in South and Central Asia. “Highly Productive meeting with @USTradeRep Ambassador Greer to discuss advancing @POTUS trade priorities in South and Central Asia. The United States and India have previously agreed to a trade deal, and we look forward to welcoming an Indian delegation to Washington later this month.

The visit will aim at strengthening Indo-US economic relations and also align with “Mission 500," which is a joint initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump. The "Mission 500” is aimed at taking the bilateral trade between the two countries to USD 500 billion by 2030.Initially Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was scheduled to be part of the delegation; however, she will skip the visit due to Parliament sessions, reported Hindustan Times.Also Read: India–US Trade Deal: White House Fact Sheet Adds ‘Certain Pulses’ to Tariff Cuts India-US Trade Deal:On February 2 this year, India and the US announced the trade deal, after months of negotiations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump hailed the agreement as “historic”. Announcing the trade pact, Trump had said that India and the US agreed on a trade deal under which Washington would bring down tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent and India would move forward to reduce "tariffs and non tariff barriers" against the US to zero, adding New Delhi would buy American goods, including energy, worth more than USD 500 billion.

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Trump had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi before making the deal announcement on Truth Social. Following the trade agreement announcement, PM Modi had said he was delighted that "Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18 per cent". He said it was wonderful to speak with his “dear friend" Trump. "Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement,” PM Modi had posted.