India will announce the final details of its Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the US only after Washington agrees to provide preferential tariff terms compared with those available to India’s competitors, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, reported ANI.
“As soon as the US is able to give us the preferential rate in comparison to our competition, we will finalise the BTA and announce the final details,” Goyal said, addressing a national workshop on the Leveraging FTAs Outreach programme, according to the ANI report.
India seeks preferential tariff terms from US
Goyal said trade agreements already signed by India are creating new opportunities for domestic exporters and helping businesses access overseas markets.
He said India is also working towards concluding more trade agreements in the coming months and years. The countries and trade blocs being considered include Canada, Mexico, Chile, the Brazil-led Mercosur bloc, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Israel.
India and the US have been negotiating a mutually beneficial BTA, with both sides working on issues aimed at expanding market access and strengthening bilateral trade.
India-US BTA talks focus on market access, trade barriers
During his June 22-24 visit to New Delhi, US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Goyal reviewed several components of the proposed agreement, including market access, digital trade, supply chain resilience, non-tariff barriers and cooperation in strategic sectors.
The two countries had said their negotiating teams had made substantial progress and reiterated their aim of reaching an agreement that is balanced, commercially meaningful and beneficial for businesses, farmers, workers and consumers in both countries.
In February, India and the US announced a framework for an interim agreement on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade, while reaffirming their commitment to negotiations for the broader BTA.
In the latest round of discussions in June, Greer led a US delegation to New Delhi for talks with Goyal, with both sides reviewing key elements of the BTA and working towards advancing the interim trade deal.
India’s goods exports to the US stood at USD 103.82 billion in 2025, while imports from the US were around USD 45.6 billion, taking total bilateral goods trade to USD 149.42 billion.
Services trade between the two countries stood at USD 92.23 billion in 2025. India exported services worth USD 48.67 billion to the US, while imports from the US stood at USD 43.56 billion.