New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) As India and the United States move closer to finalising their first bilateral trade agreement (BTA) very soon, discussions are expected to include tariffs imposed under Section 301 of the US trade law, with relief from ongoing Section 301 probes emerging as a key focus area, government sources said on Monday.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is likely to meet Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, once there is greater clarity on the remaining issues in the ongoing negotiations, sources added.

A trade deal will imply preferential access for Indian exports compared to its competitors.

The negotiations, which form part of the broader BTA framework covering market access, non-tariff barriers, customs facilitation, investment promotion and economic security cooperation, are now focused on ironing out technical details and finalising the legal text.

Around 99 per cent of the negotiations have already been completed, with only a few outstanding issues remaining, according to Goyal.

He added that discussions between the two sides are scheduled from June 2 to June 4, after which the first phase of the agreement is expected to be formally announced.

“We will very soon announce the signing of the first BTA with the US and continue our conversations on the second phase,” the minister said.

Moreover, officials indicated that while most discussions have been concluded, both sides are now working to resolve the remaining issues before moving to the next phase of the agreement.

The US delegation will be led by chief negotiator Brendan Lynch, while India’s team will be headed by Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, according to the government.

The US Section 301 investigation includes India and China among 60 economies in its ambit. The investigations are aimed at finding out whether acts, policies, and practices of each of these economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on the import of goods produced with forced labour are unreasonable or discriminatory, and burden or restrict US commerce.

–IANS

ag/na