NEW DELHI: Amid a threat of additional levies for trade ties with Russia, an official on Monday said that countries will decide on trade based on their interests.“…for each country, trade with other countries is based on their bilateral relationship, (it is) based on their economic requirement and these carry on. In addition, every country will have a perspective. I don’t think our trade decisions will be guided by that (higher tariffs),” the official said.The comments came after US President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday to “very severely sanction” countries that maintain trade ties with Russia as he sought to mount further pressure on Moscow. Even as it negotiates a trade deal with the US and navigates through a 50% tariff, due to Russian oil purchases, the government has maintained that it will keep the country’s economic interest paramount.On Monday, a senior official said India and the US were nearing closure of talks for the first tranche which will focus on the proposed bilateral trade deal, covering reciprocal and other tariffs. “But it is difficult to put a deadline since final closure is most difficult,” the official added.India is looking for easing of the reciprocal tariff of 25% imposed on a bulk of its exports to the US as well as removal of an additional 25% secondary tariffs due to oil purchases from Russia. “When you address reciprocal tariffs, you will have to address both, then it will have an impact…The US can decide whether the secondary tariffs go first or are part of the deal,” the official said.The trade agreement, which is to be signed by Fall, is likely to include multiple packages, with the initial one focused on trade. While six rounds of negotiations have taken place, officials had recently said that now an announcement is awaited as the talks are “largely complete”.“The idea is to address our tariff issues and their concerns on market access,” the official said, adding that the part on reciprocal tariffs will be sorted out soon.
