New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) India and the United States will hold ministerial-level trade talks this week as both countries seek to finalise the framework for the first phase of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) ahead of a key tariff deadline next month, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said on Sunday.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is scheduled to arrive here for a two-day visit, during which he will hold discussions with Goyal.

The minister told reporters, “For the US trade deal talks, tomorrow my counterpart is coming to Delhi.”

However, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal had recently said that the discussions between the two ministers are expected to focus on giving final touches to the framework agreement while also advancing talks on the broader bilateral trade pact.

Earlier this month, Goyal had said that India and the US were moving towards closing all the open issues in the interim trade agreement and expressed confidence that the first phase of the BTA could be concluded by the middle of next month.

The upcoming talks assume significance as the 10 per cent temporary tariff imposed by the US on all its trading partners is scheduled to expire on July 24.

The temporary tariff, announced by the US administration in February, is levied over and above the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) duty rates. Once the 150-day period ends, Washington is expected to put in place a revised tariff regime.

The meeting comes after chief negotiator-level discussions between the two countries were held in the national capital from June 2 to June 4 to advance negotiations on the proposed pact.

Moreover, the negotiations are taking place amid ongoing investigations by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 against several countries, including India, on issues related to excess industrial capacity and labour practices in global supply chains.

In June, the USTR proposed imposing additional tariffs on imports from several countries, including India, over concerns related to forced labour in supply chains. The proposal is currently under consultation and has not been finalised.

The ministerial engagement this week is expected to provide fresh momentum to trade negotiations and help both sides move closer to concluding the first tranche of the proposed agreement.

–IANS

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