Karnataka cadre IAS officer Darpan Jain (IAS:2001:KN) has been assigned the stupendous task of negotiating the trade deal with the United States as the chief negotiator. A US delegation led by Deputy US Trade Representative Ambassador Rick Switzer reached India on December 9 to hold the talks, scheduled for December 10 and 11.
The ongoing trade talks between the two countries will be covering all trade-related issues as both nations aspire to reach the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
It is not that this is the first time that such talks are taking place, but the only thing that has changed is the chief negotiator, as Rajesh Agrawal (IAS:1994:MN), who was earlier serving as the chief negotiator, has become secretary in the Ministry of Commerce. So, his role has changed. Now as Commerce Secretary, Agrawal has to supervise the negotiations.
This assignment for Jain, currently posted as Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, occupies special significance as it has come at a time when the relations between the two countries were strained due to a unilateral penal tariff imposed on India by the US. Not to forget that the US is known as a ruthless trade bargainer.
The world is watching the ongoing trade talks as both the Indian and US sides have to iron out the thorny issue of tariffs. The trade relations between India and the US nosedived after the US imposed a total of 50 percent tariffs on imports from India, with 25 percent of these constituting reciprocal tariffs and another 25 percent being imposed as a penalty for India’s import of oil from Russia.
Though the Union Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, recently expressed satisfaction at the progress the trade talks are making and sounded hopeful that the first tranche of the BTA, dealing with tariffs, would be concluded soon.
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