NEW DELHI: India has secured an agreement with the United States to receive preferential market access for its goods, with lower import duties than competing countries, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday.Goyal said the understanding was reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump when the two countries announced a broad framework for their bilateral trade agreement (BTA). Negotiations are currently underway to finalise the first phase of the deal.“This was already agreed between the leaders – President (Donald) Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi when they announced that we have both come to a broad framework agreement a few months ago and it has been acknowledged that India will get preferential trade access in the US with lower duties than our competitor countries,” Goyal told reporters in Cairo.The minister is on a two-day visit to Egypt to discuss ways to strengthen trade and investment ties between the two countries.India and the US finalised the framework for the first phase of their bilateral trade agreement in February. The deal was expected to be signed earlier, but changes in the US tariff structure have led to further negotiations.An official had recently said that Washington had assured New Delhi of a comparative tariff advantage for Indian goods under the proposed agreement. Both sides are working to conclude the first tranche by the end of the current financial year.“We will have to see how the tariff framework unfolds. We are working towards closing the first tranche by the end of this financial year. Talks are going for the first tranche and the broader BTA,” the official said last week.The extent of the tariff advantage for Indian goods will depend on the final framework agreed upon by the two countries.The negotiations have also been affected by changes in US trade policy after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which had formed the basis of the earlier discussions. Washington is now exploring alternative mechanisms under provisions of the Trade Act to put a new tariff framework in place.
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