Trade Talks 'Positive', Says US Embassy After Chief Negotiator Lynch Meets Indian Counterparts

The trade talks with India on Tuesday were "positive", the US Embassy said, shortly after US chief negotiator Brendan Lynch and other American officials met their Indian counterparts in New Delhi.

"Assistant US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch had a positive meeting in Delhi with his counterpart Ministry of Commerce and Industry Special Secretary Rajesh Agrawal on Sept. 16 to discuss next steps in bilateral trade negotiations,” the US Embassy Spokesperson told NDTV.

The closed-door talks with the chief Indian negotiator, Rajesh Agrawal, on the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement took place after a planned late August meeting was stalled.

The talks are expected to create the ground for the sixth round of India-US negotiations in the coming weeks, government sources told NDTV Profit.

The meeting is seen as a key step toward finalising the first tranche of the trade deal by the year-end, as committed by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi in February.

The resumption of India-US trade talks comes after a period of brief disruption, triggered by the imposition of 50% tariffs on New Delhi.

Tariff and non-tariff barriers across agricultural products, energy purchases, intellectual property protections, and digital trade are in play for India-US trade talks.

Both sides are also working on easing regulatory barriers and addressing concerns of US firms in areas such as e-commerce, medical devices, and agriculture.

India is expected to stick to its red lines on agriculture and dairy, to protect the interests of MSMEs, farmers, livestock holders and fishermen.

Ahead of the talks, White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro kept his criticism of India sharp, even as Trump has struck a conciliatory tone in recent days. In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Navarro said talks on a stalled trade deal were progressing but marked apprehensions over India's "steep" tariffs.

"India is coming to the table. Prime Minister Modi sent out a very conciliatory, nice, constructive tweet and President Trump responded to that. But as a practical matter, we know that on the trade side, they have the highest tariffs of any major country. They have very high non-tariff barriers," Navarro remarked.