Trade talks with US are at an impasse – India

Further concessions would be “very difficult” for both sides to make, although talks are ongoing, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says

India-US trade negotiations have hit a “plateau,” making further concessions “very difficult,” Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, days after Washington said a deal is not imminent.

India and the US have been negotiating a Bilateral Trade Agreement since February last year, covering market access, tariff and non-tariff barriers, digital trade, and supply-chain resilience. The finance minister’s comments, despite repeated assertions by both sides in the last few months that a deal is near completion, is the first clear indication that the talks have hit an impasse.

“Both the sides have reached a plateau beyond which, giving, or taking, might be very, very difficult,” Sitharaman said at the Munich Leaders Meeting in New Delhi.

She said the talks are continuing, and left open the possibility of movement if either side finds additional negotiating space, describing the proposed agreement as “hard and very rigorously negotiated.”

India & US Trade Talks Hit 'Plateau’ –

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