New Delhi:The United States is trying to create a tariff architecture globally, so, it's better to sign the trade deal once they set the framework, said India's Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal on the India-US trade deal on Monday. '

The trade agreement, announced in the first week of February, was to be signed in March. However, the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on other nations over "unfair trade" were recently struck by the US court as "unlawful".

Subsequently, the US President announced a 10 per cent uniform tariff on import from all nations under Article 122 of US Constitution. "Actual signing of the deal will be done when new architecture of tariffs will be created by the US.

We'll wait for tariff clarity first," said Agrawal. He, however, added, "The deal is ready. It has not been called off and there is nothing like a stand-off between the two nations."

Agrawal made the remarks while presenting India's trade deficit data for February. As per government data, India's trade deficit narrowed in February even as the country's imports jumped significantly.

While India's exports stood at $36.61 billion in February, dropping marginally by 0.81 per cent compared with a year ago, the country's imports jumped 24.11 per cent to $63.71 billion.

Source:Ndtv