'Hope to negotiate good bilateral trade with US,' says India amid tariff tensions

NEW DELHI: India has sought to negotiate a "good bilateral trade deal with the United States", said trade secretary after the two countries signed the terms of reference for the first phase of trade deal, Reuters reported.

"India hopes to negotiate a good bilateral trade agreement with the US," the trade secretary said.

The two nations had finalized the terms of reference for the initial phase of a bilateral trade agreement, according to an Indian trade official Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The two countries had agreed in February to begin work on this first phase, aiming to wrap it up by the end of the year, as part of their goal to boost bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

Talking about the trade deal, the official informed that it was making "very good progress", adding that the trade liberalistaion will include both tariff and non-tariff barriers.

Meanwhile, India has also made it clear that it does not negotiate on gunpoint adding that "till the time we are not able to secure the interest of our country and our people, we do not hurry."

"We never negotiate at gunpoint. Favourable time constraints motivate us for quicker talks, but till the time we are not able to secure the interest of our country and our people, we do not hurry," Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal had said.

Trump has declared a 90-day suspension on most tariff increases for key trading partners, including India, while simultaneously raising tariffs on China to 145%.