India’s trade minister to visit US on Sept 22 for talks

NEW DELHI - India’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Washington on Sept 22 to accelerate talks on a long-pending trade deal, following recent progress in negotiations resumed last week.

“The delegation plans to take forward the discussions with a view to achieve early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement,” an official statement said on Sept 20.

On Sept 16, a US delegation led by Mr Brendan Lynch, assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia, met Indian trade officials headed by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal in New Delhi.

Trade discussions with US officials on Sept 16 were

“positive” and “forward-looking”, New Delhi said,

after US President Donald Trump struck a more conciliatory tone following punitive tariffs on India over its Russian oil purchases.

But it was not immediately clear whether New Delhi would discuss the Trump administration’s H-1B visa fee hike and the demand to cut Russian oil purchases, or open its agriculture and dairy sector to US companies, a major demand from Washington.

The Trump administration on Sept 19 issued an executive order

requiring companies to pay a US$100,000

(S$128,500)

a year fee

for an H-1B visa, set to take effect from midnight on Sept 21, in a move that India said would hit its huge information technology services industry.

Mr Trump in August imposed a 25 per cent punitive tariff on Indian imports from Aug 27, doubling overall tariffs to 50 per cent, as part of

Washington’s pressure campaign

on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

A planned US delegation visit to New Delhi from Aug 25 to 29 was cancelled after talks stalled, with India resisting US demands to open its vast farm and dairy markets.

India’s exports to the US fell to US$6.86 billion in August from US$8.01 billion in July, Trade Ministry data showed on Sept 15.

Exporters have warned the full impact of higher tariffs would be felt from September, once the new duties took effect. REUTERS