India-US trade deal: Indian chief negotiator to visit US next week to finalise legal framework for BTA deal

The chief negotiator from India will lead a delegation to the US looking to finalise the legal framework for the bilateral trade agreement (BTA), commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said in an interview with the Press Trust of India, on Tuesday.

The commerce secretary also highlighted that, following the interim trade deal announcement, the US and India have been engaged in virtual talks, and the upcoming step will now focus on the legal aspects of the agreement.

Rajesh Agrawal also told the news agency that joint secretary in the commerce ministry, Darpan Jain, will lead the Indian delegation to the US to finalise the legalities of the interim trade agreement.

Interim agreement with US

On 7 February, India and the US announced that they had reached an ‘interim agreement’ on the bilateral trade agreement.

Under the deal, the US will reduce the reciprocal tariffs to 18% on all Indian exports to the Western nation, and the White House will withdraw the 25% additional tariffs, bringing the total duty down to 18%, compared to the earlier 50%.

In exchange, India is prepared to impose ‘zero tariffs’ or reduced tariffs on certain imports from the US, aiming to boost local sectors looking to benefit from imports.

India trade snapshot

India's overall merchandise and services exports for January 2026 were $80.45 billion, up year-on-year (y-o-y) from $71.09 billion in January 2025.

While the overall trade deficit of India, which marks the difference between total imports and total exports, rose $10.38 billion as of January 2026, compared to $5.39 billion in the same period the previous year, according to commerce ministry data.

Commerce secretary Agrawal also told the news agency that the cumulative value of the overall exports from India from April 2025 to January 2026 is estimated to be $720.76 billion, compared to $679 billion in the same period a year ago.

“Overall trade growth for the first 10 months, the cumulative value of our overall exports, including both merchandise and services, from April to January, 2025-26, is estimated at $720.76 billion as compared to $679 billion in the corresponding period during the last financial year. It is an estimated growth of 6.15% and increased approximately $40 billion,” he told the news agency.