Trade negotiations with U.S. ongoing, but India holds its ground
India’s foreign minister said on Saturday that trade negotiations with the U.S. are still going on but there are lines that New Delhi needs to defend.
Indian goods face additional U.S. tariffs of up to 50%, among the highest imposed by Washington, due to its increased purchases of Russian oil. A 25% tariff has already come into effect, while the remaining 25% is set to be enforced from August 27.
“We have some redlines in the negotiations, to be maintained and defended,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at an event in New Delhi, singling out the interests of the country’s farmers and small producers.
On Friday, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said India is addressing the issue of trade with U.S. with a “very open mind, a positive outlook and the confidence that India-US relationship is very consequential and very important to both the countries.”
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed not to compromise the interests of the country’s farmers and is taking steps to ease the relationship with China with his first visit in seven years, according to Reuters.
In this regard, Goyal said that warming of relations with China should not be linked with the India-U.S. trade talks.
