US wants macro, grand trade pact with India; not 'product-by-product', Says Howard Lutnick

The United States has shown interest in having a broad, large-scale trade agreement with India instead of product-by-product negotiations to enhance bilateral trade ties.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick underscored the importance of India opening up its agricultural market, saying that agriculture cannot be left out of trade talks, particularly when negotiating with its biggest trading partner.

"Since India is so massive, and America is so massive, the proper way to do it (trade agreement) is a macro, and that is why we believe we can get it done. America wants to do a macro, big-sized, broad-based trade agreement with India that encompasses everything and that I believe it can be done," Lutnick said at the India Today Conclave.

Emphasizing the necessity for a wide and grand plan, he went on, ".it's time to do something big, something grand, something that unites India and the US together, but does it at a broad level, not product-by-product, but rather the entire thing. Let's reduce India's tariff policy towards America."

Speaking about agriculture, Lutnick underlined that India should open its market instead of keeping it closed.

"Now, how do you do that? And the scale by which you do that? Perhaps you do quarters. Perhaps do limits. You can be smarter when you have your most significant trading counterpart on the opposite side of the table. You can't just say…it's off the table. That's just not an appealing way of doing business," he said.

He also clarified that a properly planned and strategic method, with the application of quotas or restrictions, could be utilized to conduct trade negotiations efficiently.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington recently, both countries reiterated their commitment to increasing bilateral trade to more than double the current level to $500 billion by 2030. Both sides also pledged to negotiate the first phase of a mutually rewarding, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by autumn 2025.

At present, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in Washington to hold trade talks with US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and Secretary Lutnick.