UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ‘Talks under way, India-U.S. statement on deal in days’

Q1. Under which one of the following U.S. statutes did the Trump administration impose the 'reciprocal tariffs' on Indian exports that preceded the negotiation of the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA)?

  • A. Trade Expansion Act, 1962 (Section 232)
  • B. International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 1977
  • C. Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, 1930
  • D. Trade Act, 1974 (Section 301)

Q2. Consider the following areas in the context of the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations: 1. Market Access 2. Technical Barriers to Trade 3. Harmonisation of Anti-Dumping Duties 4. Digital Trade Which of the above are correctly identified as subject areas covered in the BTA negotiating framework?

  1. Market Access
  2. Technical Barriers to Trade
  3. Harmonisation of Anti-Dumping Duties
  4. Digital Trade
  • A. 1, 2 and 4 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q3. Which one of the following was the first formal event that launched negotiations on the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA)?

  • A. Revocation of India's GSP beneficiary status by the U.S. in June 2019
  • B. The Modi-Trump summit of 13 February 2025
  • C. The India-U.S. Joint Statement of 7 February 2026 on the Interim Agreement framework
  • D. The Washington visit of the Indian delegation in April 2026

Q4. On the Indian side, which one of the following is the nodal ministry that leads negotiations on the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA)?

  • A. Ministry of External Affairs
  • B. Ministry of Finance
  • C. Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  • D. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

Q5. In the context of WTO disciplines that constrain India's tariff concessions under the India-U.S. BTA, the term 'Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) tariff' is best defined as:

  • A. A preferential tariff rate extended by a country only to its single most strategic trading partner
  • B. The non-discriminatory tariff rate a WTO member applies to imports from all other WTO members, unless a preferential trade agreement or exception applies
  • C. A tariff rate determined by the WTO Secretariat exclusively for least-developed country imports
  • D. A retaliatory tariff imposed in response to anti-dumping or countervailing investigations