A team of Indian officials will visit the US again this week to take forward the discussions on a trade agreement (BTA) which both sides aim to conclude by November-end, a senior official said Monday.
The talks this time, like the past two engagements, are unlikely to be through a formal structure. “Talks are progressing in a positive atmosphere,” said the official. Negotiations were going on at multiple levels to conclude the trade agreement, the official said, while refusing to get into the specifics.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, who arrived in India for a six-day visit on October 6, held meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on October 11. On Sunday, he met Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal.
“I met with Commerce Secretary Agrawal and discussed India-US economic ties, including increased investments in the US,” Gor posted on ‘X’. The incoming US ambassador to India is a close personal aide of US President Donald Trump.
Both sides had started negotiations on the first tranche of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by end-March. Five rounds of negotiations were held before this process was halted late August as the US imposed 25% additional tariffs on India for buying Russian oil taking the total additional import taxes on Indian imports to 50%.
After a pause both sides again began negotiations but not on the BTA format. The talks came back on track when a team from the US led by its chief negotiator – Assistant USTR Brendan Lynch for the BTA visited India on September 16 for the day-long talks on trade related issues.
The visit by US officials was immediately followed by the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and officials to New York from September 22 to September 24. During the visit Goyal met S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Gor.
The deal is important for India as exporters, especially in some labour intensive sectors, have started feeling the impact of 50% tariffs in the form of delayed orders, demand for discounts and longer payment periods.
In its talks with the US India is insisting on the removal of 25% additional duties imposed on India for buying Russian oil and bringing down the reciprocal tariffs below the current levels of 25%. As in other trade deals where negotiations are on Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariffs, with the US the talks are mostly on the additional tariffs imposed by Trump through executive orders.
The US is the most important trading partner for India. In 2024 total trade between the two countries stood at $ 212.3 billion, up 8.3 percent on year. India’s goods exports to the US during the year stood at $ 87.3 billion while imports were $ 41.5 billion. In goods trade India had a surplus of $ 45.8 billion. In services the total trade stood at $ 83.4 billion. India’s services exports to India were $ 41.6 billion while imports were $ 41.8 billion, giving the US a surplus of $ 76 million in services.