India, US step up talks on bilateral deal, trade ties

NEW DELHI, Dec ?10 (Reuters) - ?India's Commerce Secretary ?Rajesh Agrawal met U.S. Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer to discuss bilateral trade and economic ties, the ?government said on Wednesday.

"The two sides exchanged ?views on matters related to ?India-US trade and economic ties including on the ongoing negotiations for a mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement," India's trade ministry said in a post on ?X.

Switzer is leading a U.S. team ?in New Delhi for two days of trade discussions, as India seeks relief from ?punitive tariffs imposed by Washington over its purchases of ?Russian oil.

In August, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on imports from India to as much ?as 50%, hitting exports of textiles, chemicals and food items such as shrimp.

Exports to the U.S. fell nearly 9% year-on-year in ?October to $6.31 billion from $6.91 billion a year ago, though they were higher than $5.47 billion in ?September, Indian government data showed.

Washington is also pushing India to lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers on U.S. ?goods and open its market to American farm products, including soybean and grain sorghum.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told lawmakers on Tuesday that India had resisted greater imports of U.S. farm and meat products but had been "quite ?forward leaning" in the latest round of talks.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Mrigank ?Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman)

Source: Reuters.