The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, announced that discussions concerning the potential bilateral trade agreement with the US are advancing. Goyal indicated that the American delegation is currently present in New Delhi for the purpose of these negotiations.

Deputy US Trade Representative (USTR), Rick Switzer, is currently heading a delegation that is engaged in a two-day discussion on trade matters with his Indian counterpart, Rajesh Agrawal, in the national capital.

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Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, the primary negotiator for the US in the agreement, will engage in dialogues with India's chief negotiator and Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Darpan Jain.

The meeting is of utmost importance as India and the US are in the process of concluding the initial phase of the agreement. This marks the second visit by US officials following the imposition of a 25 percent tariff and an additional 25 percent penalty on Indian products entering the US market, a response to India's acquisition of Russian crude oil.

The most recent visit by US officials to India occurred on September 16th. On September 22, Goyal spearheaded an official delegation to the US for negotiations on trade. His visit to Washington in May is also noteworthy.

These discussions hold significance as Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal recently expressed optimism in achieving a comprehensive trade agreement this year, aimed at resolving tariff concerns and fostering advantages for Indian exporters.

 

Agrawal mentioned that the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) will require a substantial amount of time to be finalized. He also added that India is currently involved in lengthy discussions with the US regarding a comprehensive trade agreement framework that aims to resolve the issue of reciprocal tariffs affecting Indian exporters.

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India and the US are engaged in two simultaneous negotiations - one focusing on a trade agreement framework to tackle tariff issues, and the other on a comprehensive trade deal. In February, the leaders of both nations instructed their officials to engage in negotiations to reach an agreement.

The target was set to finalize the initial portion of the deal by the autumn of 2025. To date, there have been six sessions of talks conducted.   The objective of the agreement is to increase bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, more than doubling the existing amount of $191 billion.

In 2024-25, the US continued to hold the position of being India's primary trading ally. Bilateral trade between the two countries was recorded at $131.84 billion, with exports from India alone amounting to $86.5 billion. The US constitutes approximately 18 percent of India's overall goods exports, 6.22 percent of its imports, and 10.73 percent of its total trade in merchandise.

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As exporters have noted, the recent agreement holds significance as India experienced a decrease in its merchandise exports to the US for the second consecutive month in October, dropping by 8.58 percent to $6.3 billion, primarily resulting from the substantial tariffs imposed by Washington.