Goyal and Greer open final round of trade talks
India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday began bilateral talks here on issues related to the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. Greer is in New Delhi on an official visit for the trade pact talks.
“Warm welcome to @USTradeRep Amb Jamieson Greer, @USAmbIndia Amb Sergio Gor, and their delegation to @DoC_GoI. Looking forward to productive discussions on the bilateral trade agreement between (India & US),” Goyal said in a social media post on X. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal and India’s Chief Negotiator Darpan Jain, who is also Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, are attending the meeting, which is underway at Vanijya Bhawan, the headquarters of the Commerce and Industry Ministry.
The meeting followed chief negotiator-level discussions on the pact held in the national capital earlier this month (June 2-4). Agrawal, on June 15, stated that the discussions between the two ministers are expected to be centred around giving final touches to the framework deal.
Both sides in February announced the contours, or framework, of the first phase of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The framework was based on the 50 percent tariffs imposed by the US on Indian goods. However, on February 20, the US Supreme Court struck down the sweeping tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Following that, the Trump administration announced 10 percent tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act on all countries for 150 days on February 24. It will expire on July 24 this year.
The meeting between the two sides is important on account of these changes in the US tariff regime.
India and the United States formally launched BTA negotiations on February 13, 2025. On February 7, 2026, the two sides announced that they had reached a framework for an interim agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade. It is now important that India gets an advantage over its competitor nations on the tariff front in the trade pact with the US.
The US was the second-largest trading partner of India in 2025-26. India’s outbound shipments to the US grew marginally by 0.92 percent to USD 87.3 billion during the last fiscal year, while imports increased 15.95 percent to USD 52.9 billion. The trade surplus declined to USD 34.4 billion in 2025-26 from USD 40.89 billion in 2024-25.
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