India and US fine-tune trade pact after concluding most talks, says Piyush Goyal

India and the United States have finalized the majority of discussions surrounding a bilateral trade pact, with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal revealing on Monday at the India-Netherlands Business Forum. Goyal made these remarks following US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement that a limited number of issues remain to be resolved in the agreement, with hopes of its finalization in the near future.

According to the framework unveiled by both nations in February for the initial phase of their bilateral trade agreement (BTA), the US has pledged to eliminate the 25% penalty on Indian goods due to New Delhi's purchase of Russian oil, while simultaneously reducing the reciprocal tariff rate to 18%. However, the US Supreme Court overturned these reciprocal tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) on February 20.

In response, Washington imposed an additional 10% duty on Indian goods under a Section 301 probe concerning alleged forced labor concerns. This duty, also applied to 16 other countries, is lower than the 12.5% tariff initially proposed by the US in June under a broader Section 301 investigation.