“The US has initiated investigations involving several countries. Both sides will sit together and discuss how these issues need to be structured and addressed. India and the US will work together to finalise timelines and next steps as part of the ongoing engagement,” Agarwal said.

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had earlier said that negotiations with the US would resume after further clarity on the US tariff situation. A Commerce Ministry official had explained that any trade deal with the US that India signs would be around a tariff structure or comparative advantage that India gets in the US market, and that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is in the process of recreating a tariff structure.

Targeting India over “structural excess capacity and production”, USTR had said that India had a bilateral trade surplus of $58 billion with the United States, and that India’s global goods trade surplus sectors include textiles, health, construction goods, and automotive goods.

“For example, evidence suggests the solar module sector is plagued by excess capacity, including that India’s current module manufacturing is nearly triple the annual domestic demand. India also has created significant excess capacity in petrochemicals, steel, and other industries,” USTR said earlier this month.-Agencies