India-US trade talks progressing but many serious issues remain: Piyush Goyal

The discussions on the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) are progressing smoothly but many sensitive and serious issues remain to be resolved, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

“Talks are going on very well. There are many sensitive issues, many serious issues, so naturally, it takes some time,” the minister added.

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Notably, earlier in September, Piyush Goyal had led a high-level delegation to the United States to advance trade negotiations. The Indian team included senior officials such as Special Secretary and Chief Negotiator Rajesh Agrawal.

The US FTA was formally proposed in February 2025 under the directives of both nations’ leaders, the agreement aims to more than double bilateral trade volumes from the current USD 191 billion to USD 500 billion by 2030.

A recent report, quoting a government official, had stated that India and the United States were “very near” to finalising the first tranche of the ambitious Bilateral Trade Agreement.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had said that US President Donald Trump “feels very strongly about the India-US relationship” and continues to engage regularly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The President is positive and feels very strongly about the India-US relationship. A few weeks ago, he spoke to the Prime Minister directly when he celebrated Diwali in the Oval Office,” she told reporters.

In the mid-September, a US delegation led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch held “positive and forward-looking” discussions with Indian officials in New Delhi. Since March, five rounds of discussions have been held on the agreement’s first phase that was initially expected to conclude by the autumn of 2025.

India and the US faced headwinds in the trade relations since US President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on Indian goods effective August 1. A few days later, he imposed an additional 25% tariff taking the total to 50% citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil. These tariffs came into effect on August 27.