India and the U.S. are close to finalising a long-awaited trade agreement, Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday after the latest round of negotiations with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Greer concluded a two-day visit to New Delhi on Wednesday for talks aimed at securing a deal widely seen as key to strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
Speaking at an event in London, Goyal said negotiations were nearing completion, adding that the agreement now depended on Washington establishing the legal framework needed to give India tariff advantages over competing Asian economies.
"The day that happens, the deal is on," Goyal said.
India has been seeking lower tariffs on its exports than those imposed on goods from rival manufacturing hubs, while the U.S. has pressed New Delhi to increase imports of American products and further reduce trade barriers.
The two countries reached a preliminary understanding in February that included an 18% tariff on Indian goods in exchange for greater market access for U.S. exports. At the time, the proposed tariff was lower than those applied to competitors such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.
However, progress stalled after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariff policy, creating uncertainty over the legal basis for the agreement.
Negotiations have also been complicated by an ongoing Section 301 investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative into alleged overcapacity and forced labour in India and several other countries.
Iran has reached an understanding with Oman on transit arrangements through the Strait of Hormuz, but the waterway will remain closed until the U.S...
At least 37 people were killed after a Russian drone strike hit an ammunition depot in the Kyiv region, triggering powerful secondary explosions&nb...
The death toll from last week's catastrophic floods in Nepal and Tibet rose to 750 on Sunday, with 3,044 people s...
Iran is setting conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including an end to the war, the lifting of the U.S. blockade and sanctions. At the same time, Washington is stepping up economic pressure on Tehran through what the White House calls “Operation Economic Outcast.”
Mail sorting centres used by Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest private postal company, were destroyed in Russian strikes overnight, the firm said. Elsewhere, four people were injured after drones struck an apartment building in Sevastopol, Crimea, according to the Moscow-installed governor.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused U.S. government and Israel-aligned actors of manipulating energy markets to promote the war with Iran.
Iran has reached an understanding with Oman on transit arrangements through the Strait of Hormuz, but the waterway will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils its commitments, a senior Iranian diplomat said on Saturday.
Russian strikes on the Kyiv region overnight killed 37 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Zelenskyy added that the Ukrainian capital was under "virtually nonstop attack" from drones.
At least 37 people were killed after a Russian drone strike hit an ammunition depot in the Kyiv region, triggering powerful secondary explosions President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday, vowing to punish suspected negligence in the second such incident in two months.
The death toll from last week's catastrophic floods in Nepal and Tibet rose to 750 on Sunday, with 3,044 people still missing, as fresh rainfall pushed up river levels and forced rescuers to move to higher ground.
As leaders from across Eurasia gather in Kyrgyzstan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, the meeting is bringing together countries with very different interests, from China and Russia to India, Iran and Azerbaijan.
Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are set to convene the first high-level meeting under their newly established Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, marking an early step in efforts to deepen military and security cooperation among the three countries.
In Nepal's Chitwan district, a region better known for its forests, wildlife and pilgrimage sites, authorities are carrying out mass burials for hundreds of victims of the country's devastating glacier-triggered floods as the scale of the disaster continues to unfold.
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