India-US trade deal talks resume next week
New Delhi: The United States Trade Representative (USTR) could focus on giving “final touches” to the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) during his upcoming
New Delhi: The United States Trade Representative (USTR) could focus on giving “final touches” to the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) during his upcoming India visit, said commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal on Monday. Speaking at a media briefing, Agrawal said the USTR will arrive in India on 22 June and hold discussions with Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on 23-24 June. “Our expectation is that discussions will be centred around giving final touches to the deal framework,” Agrawal said. The visit will follow the 1-4 June round of talks in New Delhi, during which a USTR delegation led by its chief negotiator met with Indian officials to discuss the BTA.
The commerce ministry had said after that visit that the two sides discussed trade in goods, non-tariff measures, customs and trade facilitation, economic security alignment and other areas of mutual interest. BTA negotiations India and the US are working to finalize the first tranche, or framework, of a proposed trade arrangement before moving on to a comprehensive BTA. The negotiations, launched in 2025 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump agreed to pursue a deal aimed at more than doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, reflect growing momentum in economic ties between the two countries. Bilateral goods trade between India and the US crossed approximately $140 billion in 2025-26, with Indian exports to the US at around $87.3 billion and imports from the US at $53.5 billion, according to the commerce ministry.
From the US perspective, goods trade with India reached $149.4 billion in calendar year 2025, with US exports to India at $45.6 billion and imports at $103.8 billion, the ministry said. Also Read | India, Israel set to resume FTA talks after July Earlier, Goyal said India and the US are moving quickly to resolve the remaining issues in negotiations for the BTA and could be in a position to execute the first tranche of the pact by around the middle of next month. Speaking to reporters in the post-event press briefing of the Workshop on Seafood Exports in Visakhapatnam, Goyal said discussions between the two countries held from 1-4 June were productive and helped advance negotiations.
“We are fast moving towards closing all the open ends, and I think by sometime by the middle of next month or so we should be in a position to execute a very, very vibrant first tranche,” he said. Also Read | FM Sitharaman to review PSB performance amid loan stress, West Asia war risks
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