New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday held a meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and discussed the next steps in the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) negotiations.

The two, who met on the sidelines of the 14th ministerial conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organisation at Yaounde, Cameroon, also deliberated upon the issues related to the WTO's meeting.

The four-day meet started on March 26.

"Had a very productive discussion with @USTradeRep Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the WTO Ministerial Conference. Exchanged views on the #WTOMC14 agenda, next steps in the India-US BTA negotiations and explored ways to further deepen our economic cooperation and bilateral trade ties," Goyal said in a social media post.

The two countries last month announced that they have finalised a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. It has not yet been signed.

India and the US announced a trade deal on February 2. A joint statement for the same was released on February 7.

According to the framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent.

However, the tariff architecture in the US has changed following its Supreme Court ruling against President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. After that, the US President imposed 10 per cent tariffs on all countries for 150 days from February 24.

In view of these changes, a meeting of the chief negotiators of India and the US has been postponed. They were scheduled to meet last month to finalise the legal text of the pact, which was expected to be signed this month.

An official has earlier stated that the interim trade agreement between India and the US will be signed once the new global tariff architecture of America is in place. PTI RR DRR

Bilateral trade agreement negotiations advance as India and the US discuss WTO issues, tariffs, and next steps in talks. India and the United States continued discussions on the next steps in the bilateral trade agreement negotiations, covering the WTO agenda, the India-US BTA, and ways to deepen bilateral economic cooperation and trade ties. A framework for the first phase has been finalised, but the legal text remains unsigned, and the chief negotiators' meeting was postponed because of changes in the US tariff architecture and the need to await the revised global tariff framework before the interim trade agreement is signed.