India-US trade deal: Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said Delhi and Washington DC will sign a joint statement on the India-US trade deal in four to five days.
The country will also publish the legal text of the first tranche of the India-US trade deal, under which US President Donald Trump had earlier announced a significant reduction in tariffs for Delhi.
“The first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement is almost ready. We hope to sign a joint statement in the next 4-5 days. After the joint statement, there will be a formal agreement which will be signed around mid-March,” Goyal told reporters on the day.
After signing the joint statement, the US will issue an executive order to reduce the tariff to 18%, Goyal noted.
Commerce Minister Rajesh Agrawal also addressed a press conference to clarify the technicalities of the deal. He said the joint declaration needs to be translated into a legal agreement.
“This legal agreement will give us the authority to reduce our tariffs… Their tariffs are executive tariffs. Our tariffs are MFN tariffs. Our reduction in MFN tariffs can only take effect after the legal agreement is signed,” Agrawal said.
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