PTI New Delhi

A team of senior officials from India will again visit Washington this month to hold discussions with their US counterparts on the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA), government sources said on Thursday.

To give impetus to the talks, India's chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, special secretary in the Department of Commerce, and Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch had last month held three-day talks in Washington. "The Indian team is again going this month for the talks," they said.

The second visit assumes significance as both countries are exploring opportunities for an interim trade arrangement in goods to secure an "early mutual wins" ahead of finalising the first phase of the proposed bilateral trade agreement by the fall of this year.

India and the US have already initiated sectoral-level talks. During the last month's meeting in Washington, the teams deliberated on tariffs (related to goods) and non-tariff matters. The US has suspended the additional 26 per cent tariffs on India till July 9. Both nations want to take advantage of this window to push the trade talks.

The US, on April 2, announced an additional 26 per cent tariff on Indian goods entering the US. But on April 9, the Trump administration announced the suspension of these tariffs in India for 90 days until July 9 this year.