India-US trade deal talks to resume next week | Today’s news

New Delhi: The United States Trade Representative (USTR) may focus on “finishing touches” on the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) during his upcoming visit to India, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference, Agrawal said the USTR will arrive in India on June 22 and hold talks with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on June 23-24.

“We expect the discussions to focus on finalizing the framework of the agreement,” Agrawal said.

The visit will follow the June 1-4 round of talks in Delhi, during which a ÚSTR delegation led by its chief negotiator met with Indian officials to discuss the BTA.

The Ministry of Commerce said after the visit that the two sides discussed trade in goods, non-tariff measures, customs and trade facilitation, economic security harmonization and other areas of common interest.

BTA negotiations

India and the US are working to finalize the first tranche or framework of the proposed trade arrangement before moving to a comprehensive BTA. The talks, which began in 2025 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump agreed to implement a deal aimed at more than doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, reflect the growing momentum in economic ties between the two countries.

Bilateral trade in goods between India and the US will exceed approximately $140 billion in 2025-26, with India’s exports to the US at approximately $87.3 billion and imports from the US at $53.5 billion, according to the Commerce Department.. From the US perspective, merchandise trade with India will reach $149.4 billion in calendar year 2025, with US exports to India reaching $45.6 billion and imports $103.8 billion, the department said.

Earlier, Goyal said that India and the US are moving fast to resolve the remaining issues in the BTA negotiations and could be able to implement the first tranche of the pact around the middle of next month.

Speaking to reporters at a press briefing after the National Seafood Export Seminar event in Visakhapatnam, Goyal said that discussions between the two countries were held from 1 they were productive and helped speed up negotiations.

“We’re moving quickly to close all the open ends and I think sometime in the middle of next month we should be able to do a very, very live first tranche,” he said.