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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has expressed optimism ahead of the visit of an American delegation which wil hold talks on the contours of a proposed bilateral agreeement on the India-US trade ties.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, Tharoor said he hoped for a constructive discussion to emerge out of talks wherein Indian trade is not seriously affected. "Americans have sent a delegation and we are expecting them to spend four days talking to the Commerce ministry people on our side. The problem is that US President Donald Trump has taken a very strong stand that from April 2, a reciprocal tariff will apply," Tharoor said. "And because India does apply tariff lines to a number of American exports to India, if you strictly understand what reciprocal means, it would mean that our exports to America will also be affected. So I'm hoping that in the talks they'll find some sensible outcome" he said. Highlighting the trade surplus India has with the US, the Congress MP said, "You know we have a 45 billion dollar trade surplus of America. Some of it will certainly be reduced now, but we don't want it to seriously affect our exports and our economy and our trade balance. So I'm hoping there'll be a good constructive discussion and we'll be able to find some sensible outcomes. " Commenting on the various new developments which the Trump 2.0 administration has brought forward, the Congress MP said that the world has to "be conscious, react and if necessary, negotiate a different solution". US President Donald Trump has put April 2 as the deadline for imposition of reciprocal tarrifs. US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, is on a India visit beginning today till March 29 along with a delegation of US government officials, US embassy spokesperson said. As per the US Embassy spokesperson the delegation will be in India from March 25-29 for meetings with Indian interlocutors as part of ongoing bilateral trade discussions. "We value our ongoing engagement with the Government of India on trade and investment matters and look forward to continuing these discussions in a constructive, equitable, and forward-looking manner," the spokesperson noted. (ANI)
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