NEW DELHI: As an American team touches down in the Capital for negotiating the proposed bilateral trade agreement, government is keeping close tabs on the legal dispute over Trump’s tariffs and the concessions being offered by the US administration to other countries given that the talks are focusing on how both countries can get better market access.The Trump administration is seeking to use the 10% baseline tariffs and the suspended reciprocal tariffs (26% in India’s case) to negotiate trade deals. The court setback, which was stayed a day later, has injected fresh uncertainty, and the government is keen to ensure that it manages to extract the best deal for Indian companies.“What we get compared to other countries will be what we will ultimately finalise in the deal,” a government official said.At the same time, India is conscious of the strategic ties with the US and is looking to step up import of shale gas, LNG, and crude oil from America to diversify its import basket, as prices of these items are lower in the US, an official said. This is expected to help bridge the trade gap of over $40 billion in India’s favour, a major grudge with Trump, who has been doling out various numbers to justify his tariffs actions.How the US administration works out the trade deal will also determine the government’s future course of action on retaliating against some of the tariff hikes introduced by Trump, such as those on steel and aluminium products.“Exports are increasing… there are several things we can buy from the US… For example, shale gas, LNG, crude oil. The more diversified our sources, the greater the benefit for us. Prices are also low in the US,” the official, who did not wish to be named, said.
