Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that discussions between India and the US regarding the proposed trade deal are moving forward. He expressed optimism that both countries would strive to reach a fair and balanced agreement soon amid US President Donald Trump's tariffs on New Delhi over Russian oil purchases.
He said, "We are in dialogue with the United States of America. Our teams are engaged. We recently had the Commerce Secretary visit the US, and he met with his counterparts. We continue to engage with them, and talks are progressing. We hope to work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future.”
While speaking to DD, Goyal said that both nations are actively engaged in negotiations, with dedicated teams collaborating on the process. He added that the Commerce Secretary has met with US counterparts to further drive progress toward a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement.
In February this year, the leaders of India and the United States instructed their officials to begin negotiations on a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). A deadline has been set to finalise the first phase of the agreement by the fall (October–November) of 2025, with five rounds of discussions completed so far.
Last month, Goyal headed an official delegation to New York for further trade talks.
India–US relations suffered a setback when Trump imposed a 25% reciprocal tariff on Indian exports, along with an additional 25% punitive duty linked to India’s purchases of Russian oil. India termed these tariffs “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”
Earlier, on 13 October, US Ambassador Sergio Gor met Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal to discuss strengthening economic relations between India and the United States, with a focus on boosting investment in the US.
In a post on X, the US Ambassador's office said, “During my visit to India, I met with Commerce Secretary Agrawal and discussed US-India economic ties, including increased investment in the United States.”
Later, on Saturday, Gor met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reaffirmed that the partnership between the two countries will continue to grow stronger.
Sharing his remarks on X, Gor wrote, “An honour to be with PM Narendra Modi this evening. Our relationship with India will only strengthen over the months ahead!”
US-India trade
Meanwhile, the United States remained India’s leading trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024–25, with total bilateral trade amounting to $131.84 billion, of which exports stood at $86.5 billion. The US contributed around 18% to India’s total goods exports, 6.22% to its imports, and 10.73% to the nation’s overall merchandise trade.
Commerce Ministry figures show that India’s merchandise exports to the US dropped by 11.93% to $5.46 billion in September, largely because of Washington's high tariffs. Imports from the US grew by 11.78% to $3.98 billion during the same month.
