New Delhi ( WNAM MONITORING): India and the US have almost concluded the first part of their new trade deal, the Indian commerce minister said, as delegations began talks in New Delhi on Tuesday.
A US delegation led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch arrived in India on Monday.
The three-day visit takes place four months after the two countries formally initiated talks, and the first phase of the deal was now almost ready, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters.
“US Ambassador Sergio Gor said that 99 percent of the things have been finalized. Discussions are going on about small issues — commas and full stops,” he said, adding that he was confident that they would “conclude the first tranche of the BTA as soon as possible, sign it and start further discussions on how to have a more comprehensive BTA.”
India and the US released a framework for an interim trade agreement in early February.
US reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods were accordingly set at 18 percent, while India agreed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all American industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products.
The framework came six months after US President Donald Trump accused India of funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine by buying Russian oil and hit the country with 50 percent tariffs on most of the exports.
Negotiations on the new deal slowed, however, after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariff policies a few weeks later.
Goyal said that during the current talks, negotiators would examine how these legal changes in the US will be “reflected in the final agreement, and what kind of changes will be made accordingly.”
Ahead of the US delegation’s arrival, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took to social media to announce that India had “committed to purchasing $500 billion in US goods over the next five years, focusing on energy, technology, and agriculture.” Indian officials have not commented.
According to data from the US Trade Representative, India imported about $45.6 billion worth of American goods in 2025.
