An Indian delegation will arrive in the US on Monday for a three-day visit to advance talks on a proposed bilateral trade deal that has been under discussion for several months.
The Indian delegation will be led by Chief Negotiator Darpan Jain, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
“The Indian team led by the Chief Negotiator will visit the US from the 20th of this month. The negotiating teams will meet in person after 3-4 months. They have practically engaged in the meantime,” Rajesh Agrawal, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said at a media briefing on Wednesday.
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“We are in the process of finalizing a legal agreement, which is a logical continuation of the joint statement issued on February 7. Further discussions and follow-up engagement are needed to move this forward,” he added.
In February, the two sides announced that they had agreed on the broad outlines of the first phase of their proposed bilateral trade agreement. Under this arrangement, the US was to reduce tariffs on Indian exports to around 18% from the earlier 50%.
However, the US customs landscape has changed after the US Supreme Court struck down broad reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. Subsequently, the US government imposed a temporary flat tariff of 10% on imports from all countries for a period of 150 days starting on 24 February.
In this context, the planned meeting of the chief negotiators of the two countries was postponed last month. The two sides were previously expected to meet in February to finalize the legal text of the agreement.
“Both sides will sit and discuss how these issues need to be structured and addressed. India and the US will work together to finalize the timeline and next steps in the ongoing engagement,” he added.
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The announcement of the Indian trade delegation’s visit comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a phone call from Trump.
“We received a phone call from my friend President Donald Trump. We reviewed the substantial progress made in our bilateral cooperation in various sectors. We are determined to further strengthen our comprehensive global strategic partnership in all areas. We also discussed the situation in West Asia and emphasized the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure,” they said on the X social network.
The US remains India’s top export destination, with shipments rising to $87.31 billion in FY26 from $86.51 billion in the previous year. Imports from the US also increased significantly to USD 52.90 billion compared to USD 45.63 billion in 2024-25, indicating a broad-based strengthening of bilateral trade.
Earlier, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on March 27 to discuss next steps in India-US trade talks.
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Goyal called it a “very productive discussion” in a post on X, adding that they discussed “next steps in the India-US BTA (Bilateral Trade Agreement) negotiations and explored ways to further deepen our economic cooperation and bilateral trade ties.”
