By Manoj Kumar
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India and the United States will hold trade talks in New Delhi on Tuesday, weeks after President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs on the South Asian nation’s exports, slowing its overall shipments to a nine-month low in August.
India and the United States will “fast-track” trade talks, Rajesh Agarwal, India’s chief negotiator and a special secretary in its commerce ministry, told reporters at an event for the release of trade data, but gave no details.
U.S. trade representative for South Asia Brendan Lynch is set to make a one-day visit to New Delhi on Tuesday, Agarwal said.
India’s exports slowed to $35.10 billion in August from $37.24 billion in July, and its trade gap narrowed to $26.49 billion, from $27.35 billion in July.
U.S. imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods over New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil starting August 27, taking the total on Indian exports to 50%, among the highest for any U.S. trading partner.
Exports to the United States fell to $6.86 billion in August from $8.01 billion in July. New Delhi’s shipments to Washington in the period from April to August stood at $40.39 billion.
The full impact of higher tariffs from the United States on Indian goods imports will be felt next month as the punitive tariffs kicked in from August 27.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar, Writing by Nikunj Ohri; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly and Clarence Fernandez)
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