India, the United States' U.S. Trade Talks on April 23; PACT's reference clause includes approximately 19 chapters: Source

Officials said Indian and U.S. officials will hold three-day talks in Washington on April 23 to grant a proposed trade agreement that contains reference clauses (TORs) that cover about 19 chapters such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers and customs amenities.

The official Indian team will visit the United States to further promote negotiations in the 90-day tariff suspension window and discuss these TORs to address differences on certain issues before formally launching talks to the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

India's chief negotiator, other secretary of Rajesh Agrawal of the Ministry of Commerce, will lead the team for the first face-to-face negotiations between the two countries. Agrawal was appointed as the next Chamber of Commerce Minister on April 18. He will serve on October 1.

“Both sides will discuss the level of ambition. TOR will be further developed and discussed. What are the ways to speak? TOR will include tariffs, non-advocacy barriers, origin, goods, services, services, customization convenience and regulatory issues,” the official said, adding the general outline of the agreement to be discussed in the 90 years.

The three-day deliberation is important, as senior government officials recently pointed out that if both sides are “win-win”, the temporary trade agreement reached between the two countries can be determined during a 90-day tariff moratorium.

In international trade speech, the level of ambition refers to the degree to which two countries are willing to take specific trade liberalization measures.
The visit also follows the senior official talks held here last month between the two countries.

Brendan Lynch, Assistant Trade Representative for South and Central Asia in the United States, held a key trade discussion with Indian officials in India from March 25 to 29.
Both sides are eager to use the 90-day tariff pause announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on April 9 to promote talks.

On April 15, Commerce Minister Sunil Barthwal said that India will try to negotiate with the United States as soon as possible.

India and the United States have been negotiating bilateral trade agreements since March. The two sides aim to end the first phase of the agreement this fall (September to October), with the goal of double the bilateral trade to more than $500 billion in 2030, and currently about $191 billion.

In a trade agreement, both countries either greatly reduce or eliminate the maximum number of goods traded between customs. They also simplify norms to promote trade in services and promote investment.

While the United States is looking for certain industrial supplies, automobiles (especially electric vehicles), wine, petrochemicals, dairy and agricultural goods, such as apples, fruit trees and alfalfa hay, India may look at layoffs in labor-intensive sectors such as clothing, textiles, gemstones and jewelry, leather, plastics, chemicals, oilseeds, shrimp and gardening products.

From 2021-22 to 2024-25, the United States is India's largest trading partner. In the last fiscal year, India's exports to the United States rose 11.6% to $86.51 billion, compared with $77.52 billion in 2023-24. In 2024-25, imports increased by 7.44% to US$42.2 billion in 2023-24. In the United States, India's trade surplus (the difference between imports and exports (the difference between imports and exports) in 2024-25 was US$41.18 billion.

The United States accounts for nearly 19.78 of India's total exports, accounting for 6.29% of the total imports. To address the gap and boost manufacturing, the Trump administration announced its approval on April 2, including 26% of India. It was later suspended for 90 days until July 9.

In 2024, India's main exports to the US included drug formulations and biologicals (USD 8.1 billion), telecom instruments (USD 6.5 billion), precise and semi-precious stones (USD 5.3 billion), petroleum products (USD 4.1 billion), gold and other precise metal jewellery (USD 3.2 billion), ready-made garments of cotton, including accessories (USD 2.8 billion), and products of iron and Steel ($2.7 billion).

Imports include crude oil ($4.5 billion), petroleum products ($3.6 billion), coal, coke ($3.4 billion), shear and polished diamonds ($2.6 billion), electric machinery ($1.4 billion), aircraft, aircraft, aircraft, aircraft, parts and parts ($1.3 billion), and US$130 million (USD $130 million).