India, US trade pact to come into operation once India gets comparative advantage: Goyal

The first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement between India and the US will come into operation as soon as the United States is able to ensure that India gets a comparative advantage over its competitors, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

He also said that as long as India has a comparative advantage or comparable duties, “I think India will continue to grow its exports and continue to leverage the large U.S. opportunity”.

He added that India participated in the USTR’s sec 301 investigations against forced labour concerns.

The US has imposed a 10 per cent tariff under that probe on India.

“I have categorically and on several occasions expressed the confidence that what we have finalized with the US as the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement, which was announced by our leaders on 3rd of February, will come into operation as soon as the United States is able to ensure that we get a comparative advantage over our competitors, the countries in our neighborhood, the countries in the ASEAN region and other countries with whom we compete,” Goyal told reporters here.

He said that was the basis of the first tranche of the BTA and once that basis is re-established, the US BTA will be ready up and about, he added.

“For us, as long as we have comparative advantage or comparable duties, I think India will continue to grow its exports and continue to leverage the large U.S. opportunity,” he said.