‘Very, very close’ to historic trade deal with India: senior US official
Washington, June 24 (PTI) The United States and India are “very, very close” to concluding a historic bilateral trade deal that will open the 1.4 billion-strong Indian market to American goods on reciprocal and mutually beneficial terms, a senior US official has said.
Addressing an event at the Capitol Hill organised by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) on Tuesday, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Bethany Poulos Morrison said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump were advancing a “result-oriented” relationship.
“We’re not measuring (the relationship) by meeting. We’re measuring it by results,” she said, referring to the trade negotiations launched following the understanding reached between Trump and Modi earlier this year.
“When we looked at trade in February 2026, we announced the intention to finally conclude the historic trade deal. We are very, very close,” Morrison said.
She said the proposed trade deal will open up India’s 1.4 billion-strong market to American goods on terms that are reciprocal and mutually beneficial.
“The administration is driving toward the goal of Mission 500 — the goal of achieving US 500 billion in trade by 2030 — with a real sense of urgency,” the official said.
Morrison’s remarks came as US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer is in India for discussions with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the proposed trade agreement.
Highlighting growing economic engagement, she said Indian companies were increasing investments in the US.
At the recent SelectUSA Investment Summit, “we saw USD 20 billion in new investment” commitments from India, including USD 1.1 billion in immediate investment, Morrison said, adding that it was the “largest announcement in SelectUSA’s history”.
The US was the second-largest trading partner of India in 2025-26.
India’s outbound shipments to the US grew marginally by 0.92 per cent to USD 87.3 billion during the last fiscal year despite high tariffs, while imports increased 15.95 per cent to USD 52.9 billion. The trade surplus declined to USD 34.4 billion in 2025-26 from USD 40.89 billion in 2024-25.
Morrison also said that the India-US energy partnership was expanding rapidly.
“We are exchanging goods in American oil, gas, and coal, and both sides are exploring expanding civil nuclear cooperation under the newly enacted Shanti Act.
“The US-India hydrocarbon trade has expanded significantly since 2025, reaching USD 14.4 billion to date,” she said.
Morrison also noted that more than 330,000 Indians are enrolled in US educational institutions, contributing over USD 14 billion to the American economy and supporting more than 50,000 jobs.
Commerce and Industry Minister Goyal and USTR Greer on Tuesday held high-level trade talks in New Delhi aimed at salvaging and recalibrating the proposed bilateral trade agreement after changes in US tariff policy upended a framework negotiated earlier this year.
Both sides sought to conclude an interim trade pact before July 24, when Washington’s temporary 10 per cent tariff on imports from trading partners is due to expire.
Greer’s two-day visit comes days after Prime Minister Modi and President Trump held their first meeting in more than a year on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France on June 17, injecting fresh momentum into the trade negotiations that both sides see as critical to strengthening economic ties.
Tuesday’s meeting follows chief negotiator-level discussions held in New Delhi earlier this month (June 2-4).
Securing preferential tariff treatment in the pact has become a central objective for New Delhi after changes in US tariff policy eroded an advantage India had expected to enjoy over regional competitors such as Vietnam and other ASEAN economies.
Under the February framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent, lower than duties facing several competing exporters.
However, the subsequent court ruling and Washington’s decision to impose a temporary 10 per cent tariff on imports from all countries forced both sides to revisit key elements of the framework.
Earlier on June 5, Goyal said India and the US are moving towards closing all open ends of the interim trade agreement, and both sides are likely to execute the “very, very vibrant” first phase of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the middle of next month.
India and the US formally launched BTA negotiations on February 13, 2025.
In February this year, the two sides announced the contours of the first phase. It was based on the 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the US on Indian goods. However, on February 20, the US Supreme Court struck down these sweeping tariffs.
It forced the Trump administration to impose 10 per cent tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act on all countries for 150 days from February 24. It will expire on July 24 this year.
Under the agreed framework, India proposed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products, including Dried Distillers’ Grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products.
New Delhi has also expressed its intentions to purchase USD 500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years.
As the tariff landscape changed in the US, both sides are re-examining the agreement’s framework.
The February joint statement on the framework has a clause that, in the event of any changes to the agreed-upon tariffs of either country, the US and India agree that the other country may modify its commitments.
Meanwhile, to retain bargaining leverage, the USTR launched two Section 301 investigations on March 11 and 12 covering about 60 economies. One focused on alleged excess industrial capacity, while the other examined forced-labour concerns in global supply chains. India was included in both investigations.
When the framework of the first phase of the agreement was finalised, India had a comparative advantage over its competitor countries, such as ASEAN nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia), Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
