Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien in Washington. The meeting is held last as India and the US are negotiating the finer elements of a bilateral trade agreement. A delegation of Indian officials is expected to visit the US to hold discussions on the agreement. Mr Kwatra, in a post on X, said that he was honoured to host Ambassadors Jamieson Greer and Robert O’Brien at India House.

 

In February, India and the US announced finalisation of a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent. Mr Kwatra said that they had a productive conversation on a range of bilateral cooperation opportunities and important developments across the world. Bilateral trade was part of the discussion during the recent visit of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to Washington last week.

 

On February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s tariff policies imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were unconstitutional. India and the US were initially planning to sign the trade deal in March, but changes in the tariff landscape following the US Supreme Court ruling have altered the situation. Official sources have earlier stated that the agreement will be signed once the new global tariff architecture of America is in place.