US-India trade deal: Piyush Goyal says 1st tranche finalized
What's the story
The first phase of a trade agreement between India and the United States has been finalized, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Thursday. He said it is now in its final stages of legal drafting. "The US bilateral trade agreement first tranche has been finalized. It's going through final contours, the legal drafting, and we hope to be able to finalize that soon and operationalize that once we get comparable advantage or competitive advantage over our peer countries," Goyal said.
Progress update
Agrawal optimistic about signing trade deal soon
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal also shared a positive update on the US trade pact negotiations.
He said, "Probably we are in a very good zone. We anticipate closing the deal and signing the deal at the earliest possible time."
However, he clarified that the trade deal would be signed once the overall tariff structure is formalized in the US.
Tariff alignment
Parallel work being done in US to restore tariff structure
Agrawal also revealed that parallel work is being done in the US to restore its tariff structure.
He said, "Based on some of the outcomes under (Section) 301, we will progress toward signing the deal at a mutually agreed time."
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had earlier weighed in on the trade negotiations during his address at Bloomberg New Economy Forum this week.
Negotiation status
Jaishankar says trade negotiations heading toward 'landing point'
Jaishankar said the trade negotiations are heading toward a "landing point."
The minister noted that while one part of these negotiations is between India and the US, another part involves how they fare against competitive economies.
"When countries negotiate with an economy like the United States, obviously one part of it is what you work out between yourselves and the US, and one part of it is how do you fare vis-a-vis competitive economies," Jaishankar said.
Tariff negotiations
India negotiating proposed trade pact with US since early 2025
India has been negotiating the proposed trade pact with the US since early 2025.
The talks are aimed at addressing tariff friction, eliminating non-tariff barriers, and boosting bilateral market access.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit India and Uzbekistan from October 17 to 22 and will meet government and business leaders to discuss energy cooperation, commercial investment and broader economic ties.