Amid trade tensions between India and the US, on Thursday, September 11, US Ambassador-designate to India, Sergio Gor, said reducing US tariffs on agricultural products will be the top priority in a trade agreement with India.
He made the statement while appearing before the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, DC, by replying to a question by Pete Ricketts, US Senator for Nebraska, who questioned regarding the restoration of trade negotiations and getting India to decrease its US tariffs on US agriculture should be prioritised as part of the finalised trade agreement.
Gor answered 100 per cent. Moreover, he stated the committee that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is focusing on the individual items, which were prohibited from being imported into India due to US tariffs and barriers in the past.
Overall, he said: “And in fact, I got a briefing on this, Ambassador Greer is literally working on the individual items that in the past…tariffs and barriers have made it prohibitive to be imported into India, that will hopefully be changing soon, over the next few weeks,”. Gor’s appointment as Ambassador to India took place on Aug 23. It needs to be confirmed by the committee led by James Risch from Trump’s own party, the Republicans.
The statement comes as the two countries are facing trade frictions against each other amid 50 per cent US tariffs and geopolitical pressures, and delayed negotiations. Apparently, Gor’s statement underscored the persistent obstacle in talks in which the US demands greater market access to India’s protected agricultural sector and when New Delhi is trying hard to protect its farmers from foreign competition.