India is set to move ahead on multiple key trade agreements, with Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal indicating that free trade deals with the UK and Oman are likely to be operationalised in April, while a similar pact with New Zealand is expected by September. Goyal also noted that aninterim trade agreementwith the United States is likely to come into effect around the same time.

An interim trade agreement between India and the US is likely to be signed in March and operationalised in April, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. "India-US trade deal set to be inked soon," said Sergio Gor, the US Ambassador to India, earlier today.

Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump announced the finalisation of the interim trade deal on February 7. They said that the US and India have reached a framework for an interim agreement on trade, with Trump issuing an executive order removing the 25 per cent punitive tariffs imposed on India for its purchases of Russian oil. Under the trade deal, Washington will charge a reduced reciprocal tariff on New Delhi, lowering it from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.

Goyal also said that India's free trade agreements (FTAs) with the UK and Oman are likely to be implemented in April. With New Zealand, the pact is expected to be implemented in September.

A three-day meeting between Indian and American officials to finalise the legal text for an interim trade agreement will begin in the US on February 23. Earlier this month, India and the US released a joint statement to announce that a framework for an interim trade agreement has been finalised.

The joint statement lays down the contours of the deal. Now, the contours of the deal have to be translated into a legal agreement, which will be signed between the two sides. It is expected to be signed in March. The Indian and the US team will start their three-day meeting from Monday, the official said.

The Indian team will be headed by chief negotiator Darpan Jain, who is a joint secretary in the Commerce Ministry.

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Apoorva Shukla is a journalist at Times Now, where she thrives on dissecting political developments both at home and abroad. A graduate of Delhi Univ...View More

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