US deal likely to be worked out in 3-4 months: Officials

NEW DELHI: The US is expected to work out trade deals with partners, including India, in the next three-four months, once it finalises its strategy to deal with the legal issues related to tariffs, a senior govt official said on Saturday.

The official said that New Delhi is "staying" with the deal, but the final details will be worked out once there is clarity in DC on how US President Donald Trump intends to impose tariffs going forward after the US Supreme Court struck down the use of International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose additional duties.




While Trump has used powers under Section 122 of the Trade Act to impose 10% additional tariff on all countries, he is likely to increase the levy to 15%, which can be in place for up to 150 days. Trump can also invoke other provisions, including some that have never been used, to impose levies on trade partners.

The US administration has stated its intent to increase the duty to 15% in the coming days but is weighing the implications on deals such as those with the UK and the EU, wherein it had agreed to lower levies.

The official said that India has managed good deals for its farmers, including opening up the market for goods such as mangoes, without making any commitments related to farm or dairy products.

Allaying fears over domestic producers of apples and walnuts getting hit under the deal, the official said that the quantities allowed were much lower than what was already being imported and they came with safeguards. Besides, in the case of products such as cotton, Indian textiles industry needed long staple fibre.

Separately, at the Raisina Dialogue, commerce & industry minister Piyush Goyal asserted that India has secured the best trade deal compared to its rivals. "What's a trade deal? You are trying to get a preference or a preferential access for yourself, your goods, your services, compared to your competitor. And we got the best deal amongst all competing nations. I mean whether it's in our neighbourhood, Pakistan or Bangladesh; or if we look at the Asian region, amongst all of the competitors..."