Indian Senior Officials to Visit US for Advancing Bilateral Trade Agreement Negotiations

An Indian delegation of senior-level officials is scheduled to visit the United States this week for trade discussions.

New Delhi:

A delegation comprising senior officials from India will be traveling to the US this week for trade negotiations, with discussions on the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) making good progress, according to a top official's statement on Monday.

Earlier in February this year, leaders from both nations instructed officials to negotiate the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement.

The plan aims to finalize the first phase of the agreement by fall (October-November) of 2025.

To date, five rounds of negotiations have been completed.

The official confirmed, "The Indian team will visit this week."

In the previous month, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal headed an official delegation to New York for trade discussions.

Following those meetings, India and the US agreed to continue negotiations toward an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement.

Both countries engaged in constructive discussions covering various aspects of the potential trade deal.

During his visit, Minister Goyal met with United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and US Ambassador-designate to India Sergio Gor.

These negotiations are particularly significant as the US has imposed a 25 percent reciprocal tariff plus an additional 25 percent penalty on Indian products entering the American market due to India's purchase of Russian crude oil.

Currently, Indian goods face a total of 50 percent additional import duty when entering the US market.

The proposed agreement aims to more than double bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030, up from the current USD 191 billion.

The United States has remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at USD 131.84 billion (including USD 86.5 billion in exports).

The US accounts for approximately 18 percent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 percent of imports, and 10.73 percent of the country's total merchandise trade.