US-India trade deal: Phase one of bilateral trade agreement almost complete, will address 50% tariffs, market access

India-US trade deal: Phase one of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between India and the United States is “nearly closure”, according to Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal on November 17, multiple reports said.

He added that the almost completed part of the trade deal will address the 50% tariffs (comprising 25% reciprocal duties and 25% “punishment” for buying Russian crude oil) and market access to the US, PTI and Bloomberg reported.

The official added that talks are regular, and that the finalised deal will be announced on a mutually decided date, the PTI report added.

This comes after US President Donald Trump recently stated that the US is “pretty close” to reaching a “fair trade deal” with India, adding that he will lower tariffs imposed on Indian goods at “some point”.

India-US BTA: What is the status?

Speaking to reporters on November 17, Agarwal said that the India-US BTA is being discussed in two parts, of which negotiations for the second part will take more time.

“We are engaged with the US on the BTA. It has two parts. One part of negotiations will take time. The other part is a package which can address reciprocal tariffs. We are working on both aspects. The package that can address reciprocal tariffs is more or less near closure and we should get it soon,” Agarwal said.

What's still under discussion?

One issue that is under discussing is over Indian oil companies signing a year-long deal to import LPG cooking gas from the US in 2026. “It was something in the works for long. This is in the overall context of keeping the trade with the US. It is not part of any negotiations package per se but definitely as part of our endeavour to balance trade with the US,” PTI quoted him saying.

The US is also seeking greater market access for its products such as almonds, pistachio, apples, ethanol and genetically modified commodities, it added.

India-US trade agreement to narrow trade surplus?

The report added that the LPG deal is being viewed as one step to narrow India's trade surplus with the US. Till date, six official rounds of talks have been completed, with both resolved to announce the first tranche in 2025.

Agrawal and other officials visited Washington in last month for trade talks from October 15-17. The proposed BTA aims to more than double bilateral trade between the two countries to $500 billion by 2030, from the current $191 billion.

• US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in FY25, with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion ($86.5 billion exports), according to commerce ministry data.
• US accounts for about 18% of India's total goods exports, 6.22% in imports, and 10.73% in the country's total merchandise trade, it showed.
• India's merchandise exports to the US declined 11.93% to $5.46 billion in September 2025 due to the high tariffs imposed by Washington, according to commerce ministry data.
• Imports increased 11.78% to $3.98 billion during the month, as per the data.

(With inputs from Agencies)