Washington, June 27:
India’s envoy to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, discussed the path to deepen bilateral trade partnership with the leadership and members of the Ways and Means Committee of the American House of Representatives.
“Joined a special roundtable discussion on key aspects of the US-India bilateral trade relationship with the leadership and members of the House Ways and Means Committee,” Indian Ambassador Kwatra said in a post on X.
“We exchanged views and discussed the way forward to further expand and deepen the trade partnership,” Kwatra said.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of the negotiations between the two countries to finalise an interim bilateral trade agreement.
The Committee on Ways and Means is the oldest committee of the United States Congress, and is the chief tax-writing panel in the House of Representatives.
Committee Chairman Jason Smith, a Republican from Missouri, and Ranking Member Richard Neal, a democrat from Massachusetts, were among those present at the meeting.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the trade deal with the US is “very close”, but it cannot come into force unless India secures a competitive tariff advantage over its competitor nations.
Earlier this week, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met Goyal in New Delhi to discuss the finer aspects of the first phase of the India-US bilateral trade agreement.