India and the US have agreed on the framework for their upcoming bilateral trade agreement, marking a key step toward closer economic cooperation, PTI reported.
The pact is set to include around 19 sections, touching on areas like trade in goods, services, investments, and customs procedures. Talks are expected to progress further as a senior Indian delegation head to Washington next week to advance the negotiations.
A high-level Indian delegation, headed by Additional Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, is set to begin a three-day round of in-person trade talks with the United States in Washington starting Wednesday, April 23. Agrawal, recently appointed as the next commerce secretary, will assume his new role on October 1.
The upcoming discussions mark a continuation of recent diplomatic exchanges, following a visit to India by Brendan Lynch, the assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia, from March 25 to 29. The visit also builds on earlier senior-level discussions held in New Delhi.
Officials see the meeting as a sign of growing momentum in negotiations toward a potential Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the two countries.
Negotiations began in March with both sides aiming to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (September–October) this year. The larger goal is to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, up from the current $191 billion.
The trade pact is expected to involve significant tariff cuts. The US is seeking greater access for products such as electric vehicles, certain industrial goods, wines, dairy, petrochemicals, apples, alfalfa hay, and tree nuts. India, in turn, is eyeing concessions for labour-intensive sectors like textiles, apparel, gems and jewellery, leather goods, chemicals, plastics, shrimp, oilseeds, and horticultural products.
Between 2021-22 and 2024-25, the United States remained India’s top trading partner. During 2024-25, India recorded a goods trade surplus of $41.18 billion with the US, up from $35.32 billion the previous year and $27.7 billion in 2022-23. The growing imbalance, however, has raised concerns in Washington.
In response, the Trump administration announced new tariffs on April 2, including a 26% duty on Indian exports. These measures were temporarily paused until July 9 to allow room for negotiations.
With discussions gaining traction, the next round of talks in Washington is expected to resolve key issues and set the foundation for a landmark trade deal between the two countries.
(With PTI inputs)
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