India-US trade pact talks in advanced stage: Goyal

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said the negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement with the US and Oman were at the advanced stage. The trade agreement with the US was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in February. 

“We are at the advanced stage of discussion with Oman and US…we are also discussing an agreement with New Zealand, which should take a few months… and discussing trade agreements with Peru and Chile,” Goyal said.

The minister reiterated today that India would not be bound by timelines when it came to trade negotiations. 

Asked if the August 1 deadline set by US President Donald Trump for nations to conclude trade deals to avoid US reciprocal tariffs was as fluid as the July 9 deadline, the minister said, “We do not work under pressure. Securing national interest is our sole priority and driving factor."

Goyal also said a team of negotiators from the US will visit India in the second half of August to take the talks ahead. The hint was the August 1 US deadline was flexible.

The two sides held the last round of negotiations on July 18. Commerce Ministry Special Secretary  Rajesh Agrawal, who is also India’s chief negotiator for the agreement, was in Washington with a team of officials from Wednesday to Friday. 

The India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement negotiations, initiated in February this year, aim to enhance trade and investment ties targeting a doubling of bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. The US seeks to reduce its around $45 billion trade deficit with India, while India aims for exemptions from US reciprocal tariffs, 26% on Indian imports and a 10% baseline tariff in addition to duty reductions on steel, aluminum, and automotive sectors. So far, five rounds of talks have concluded.

In the absence of a trade deal, Indian goods shipped to the US would attract at least 26% extra duty from August 1, which could hurt India’s exports growth, as the US is India’s top export destination with nearly 20% share in the country’s total outbound shipments. 

India exported goods worth $86.51 billion to the US in 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) and had a trade surplus of $40.82 billion during the period, according to commerce ministry data.

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