Commerce Minister Rajesh Agrawal told a press conference that discussions with the US have never failed. File | Photo credit: Reuters
A preliminary trade deal with the United States dealing with tariffs is “very close,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal reiterated, but added that he could not specify an exact date by which it would be done. He added that the two sides are currently negotiating and that talks have never broken down.
“The discussions never broke down with the US,” Mr Agrawal told a news conference. “We are engaged. They came in December. Then there was also a virtual meeting between the Secretary of Commerce and the US Trade Representative (USTR) in the last week of December 2025.”
A team of negotiators from the US, led by Deputy USTR Rick Switzer, visited India and met Commerce Secretary Piyush Goyal on December 10, 2025 and Mr. Agrawal on December 11, 2025 to advance negotiations.
“Negotiation teams are talking virtually about issues that are still unresolved,” he added. “It’s very close, but we can’t set a deadline. It will happen as soon as both sides are ready.”
However, Mr Agrawal also said in December that a deal on tariffs was “very close”.
India’s merchandise exports to the US hit a five-month high of $7.01 billion in December 2025, up from $6.89 billion in December 2024, the latest trade data released on Thursday (Jan 15, 2026) showed.
“That’s where we’re still holding a positive trend, that’s the positive we can take from the data,” Mr Agrawal said. “It was still around $7 billion despite the high tariffs. That means we’re probably focusing on the areas where the tariffs are lower and the areas where the tariffs are high, our industry is showing resilience and holding on to their supply chains.”
Published – 15 Jan 2026 18:07 IST
