Momentum builds in Washington and New Delhi as India-US teams race to wrap up a transformative bilateral trade pact. Agreement blankets most fronts, with lingering friction on import-export levies and phased implementation.
Both sides prioritize enduring trade predictability and credibility. The past fortnight’s advances have whittled down obstacles significantly. Technical huddles persist, teeing up endorsements from lead trade authorities before presidential and prime ministerial ratification.
Modi-Trump hotline diplomacy has repeatedly spotlighted the pact’s blueprint, echoed by the US leader’s Davos pledge for deepened trade collaboration.
Pivotal relief may arrive via repeal of the US’s 50% Indian goods tariff, levied last summer and scourging textiles acutely. Aggregate trade edges higher still, with textiles mixed—pressures offset by subset booms and pharma export surges.
US court uncertainties simmer: tariff authority rulings pose no immediate bar but future hazards. Fallback mechanisms enforce stringent tariff parameters, apt to challenge policy trajectories.
US lawmakers from both parties champion amplified economic intercourse with India. Immigration headwinds, notably skilled visa surcharges, breed corporate qualms, indirectly buffeting bilateral vibes outside trade’s core.
This cornerstone agreement eyes tariff dissolution, sectoral revitalization, and a bedrock of reliability, heralding amplified prosperity in Indo-US exchanges.