GTRI Cautions Against Politically Driven Indiaus Trade Deal Ahead Of July Deadline

(MENAFN- KNN India) New Delhi, Jun 27 (KNN) As India and the United States move closer to finalising a potential interim trade agreement, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has cautioned against entering into a politically driven or one-sided deal.

The economic think tank emphasised that any pact must safeguard India's farmers, digital ecosystem, and sovereign policy space.

With India's chief trade negotiator currently in Washington DC, both sides are reportedly working towards sealing a limited trade agreement before July 9.

That date marks the expiry of a 90-day suspension of country-specific tariffs announced by former US President Donald Trump on April 2.

GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava noted that the most probable outcome would be a“mini trade pact” similar in structure to the US-UK deal announced in May.

“Any trade deal with the US must not be politically driven or one-sided. It must protect our farmers, our digital ecosystem, and our sovereign regulatory space,” Srivastava stated.

According to GTRI, the proposed agreement could see India lowering tariffs on a wide range of industrial goods, including automobiles-a longstanding demand from Washington.

In the agricultural sector, India may extend limited market access by reducing duties and offering tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on specific US products such as ethanol, almonds, walnuts, apples, raisins, avocados, olive oil, spirits, and wine.

Beyond tariff concessions, the US is expected to urge India to make large-scale commercial purchases, including oil and LNG, Boeing aircraft, helicopters, and nuclear reactors.

There may also be calls to relax foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in multi-brand retail, potentially benefiting firms like Amazon and Walmart, and to ease import rules for remanufactured goods.

Despite agriculture accounting for less than 5 percent of US exports to India, the sector remains a sensitive area in trade negotiations, with domestic stakeholders urging caution.

The outcome of the ongoing talks is expected to shape the contours of India-US trade relations in the near term.

(KNN Bureau)

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