With a team of Indian officials led by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal in the US, there is expectation that the two countries could reach a consensus in the coming weeks and finalise the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement.

According to sources, there is broad consensus between India and the US on several critical sectors and Washington DC is also more understanding of India’s concerns on market access for sensitive sectors such as agriculture and dairy. Advertisement

India is also prepared to buy more defence equipment from the US and there is expectation in New Delhi that the US will lower its tariffs, especially on labour-intensive exports such as textiles and leather goods, where tariffs could be about 20%, if not lesser.

India has also shown its willingness to diversi

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