India is placing a greater priority on a deal that can ensure a win-win for both countries rather than meeting the July 9 deadline when higher tariffs kick in, a senior government official said.
The country is prioritising protecting its sensitive sectors such as agriculture and dairy over striking a mini deal with the United States.
"We really want to do a deal before July 9 but there are challenges. The idea is to get a deal which is a win-win," an official said citing that differences between the sides on what to include and what not to include were holding up the mini deal.
Officials from the Ministry of Commerce are set to visit the US soon for the next round of in-person meeting to discuss both the mini deal and the first tranche of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), the timeline for which is fall.
India has been trying to negotiate a scaled-down version of the first tranche of the Bilateral Trade Agreement with the US to ensure that it escapes the ire of US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs.
The US president on April 2 had imposed reciprocal tariffs on select countries, but reversed his decision on April 9 for a blanket 10 percent duty on all imports entering American shores.
The deadline for the country-specific duty will end on July 9, but the official says that India is not too concerned with the higher rate of 26 percent under the reciprocal system and are not interested in imposing higher duties on the US either.
"India will lose in some, gain in some, because it is not like US is doing much trade deals with other countries," the person said, highlighting that India was the only country negotiating so elaborately with the US.
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised India for its high-tariff regime and has been seeking greater market access for US farm and dairy goods. The simple average tariff for agricultural goods in India is 39 percent, starkly higher than the US rate of 5 percent.
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