India-US Trade Talks Show Progress, Piyush Goyal Says “Closer to a Fair Deal”

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that India-US trade talks are progressing steadily, with both sides working toward a fair and equitable agreement.

Speaking to Doordarshan from Berlin, Goyal said, “We are in dialogue with the USA, our teams are engaged. We recently had the Commerce Secretary visit the US and meet his counterparts. We continue to engage with them, and talks are progressing. We hope to work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future.”

The discussions aim to resolve a long-stalled trade agreement that seeks to reduce US tariffs on Indian imports, which currently stand at 50%, and boost bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Five rounds of negotiations have taken place since February 2025, following directives from the leaders of both countries to finalize a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

Last month, Goyal led an official delegation to New York for further trade talks. The negotiations are particularly significant because India-US trade relations have been under strain since the US imposed steep tariffs, including a 25% additional duty on imports linked to Russian crude purchases, which India described as “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.”

After a brief pause, talks resumed on September 16, when Brendan Lynch, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, met Indian officials in New Delhi. Both sides agreed to fast-track negotiations for an early, mutually beneficial deal.

The proposed agreement is ambitious, aiming to more than double bilateral trade from the current $191 billion to $500 billion by 2030. In 2024–25, the United States remained India’s largest trading partner, with total trade valued at $131.84 billion, including $86.5 billion in exports, according to government data.