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Talks between India, US for proposed trade agreement progressing: Goyal
Oct-24-2025

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that talks between India and the United States (US) for the proposed trade agreement are progressing, and expressed hope that both sides would work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future. An Indian official team, headed by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, was in Washington to hold trade talks with their US counterparts. The three-day talks ended on October 17, 2025. 

In February 2025, leaders of India and the US directed officials to negotiate a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). They have fixed a deadline to conclude the first tranche of the pact by the fall (October-November) of 2025. So far, five rounds of negotiations have been completed. Last month, Goyal also led an official delegation to New York for trade talks. These deliberations are important as the relations between the two countries have been reeling under severe stress after the Trump administration imposed a steep 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods. It includes a 25 per cent additional import duty for buying Russian crude oil. India has described these duties as ‘unfair, unjustified and unreasonable’.

The talks halted for a brief period after the US announced high tariffs on Indian goods. After a brief gap, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch held talks with Indian officials in New Delhi on September 16, 2025. In that meeting, both sides agreed to push for an early and mutually beneficial conclusion of the agreement. The proposed pact aims to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the current $191 billion.


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