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India US Trade Deal
The US team is expected to visit India next month for trade talks, though no dates have been finalised yet, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Friday. The Indian side visited Washington, DC, in April for an in-person round of meetings with their US counterparts to finalise the details of the interim pact and take forward the negotiations under the broader bilateral trade agreement (BTA). "We expect the US team to visit soon..not this month..may be next month," he told reporters here. He said India is engaged with the US on trade deal and it would be signed at an opportune time. He also said that India is engaged with the US on section 301 investigations. India and the US issued a joint statement on February 7 finalising a framework for an interim trade agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade. The framework reaffirmed the countries' commitment to the broader India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement negotiations. India's shipments to the US grew marginally by
The Congress on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over media reports claiming that US authorities are moving to drop charges against billionaire Gautam Adani, saying it is now clear why the PM agreed to the "hopelessly one-sided" Indo-US trade deal and why he abruptly halted Operation Sindoor. The opposition party's attack came after media reports claimed that US authorities are moving to settle the fraud charges against the Indian billionaire. Reacting to the reports, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "It is now clear why the PM agreed to the hopelessly one-sided Indo-US trade 'deal' that was really a steal by the US. And it is also clear why he abruptly halted Operation Sindoor on May 10 2025, acting on President Trump's threats rather than on our national interest." "Reportedly, the Trump Administration is about to drop all charges of corruption against Modani," he said on X. How much more "compromised" can the PM get, Ramesh ..
Repeated setbacks faced by US President Donald Trump in American courts have further heightened uncertainty over the US tariff regime, and India should wait for the United States to evolve a more stable and legally predictable trade framework before moving ahead with the proposed bilateral trade agreement, experts said. They said that this ruling is a crucial reminder that Trump's global tariffs violated WTO (World Trade Organisation) rules, and their striking down by US courts is a positive signal for multilateral trade norms. In another setback to the White House, a US federal court has struck down the 10 per cent global tariffs slapped by Trump, terming them "invalid" and "unauthorised by law". These new tariffs were imposed by Trump on all countries, including India, on February 24 for 150 days following an earlier US Supreme Court verdict that struck down his earlier sweeping levies. "The continuing uncertainty around US tariff policy, with major Trump-era tariffs repeatedly .
India and the US are "very, very close" to signing the trade deal and need to get over "that last hurdle", US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said on Tuesday. Landau said that India and the US have been negotiating for months and it was important for the two sides to "reach some closure" and move on with the many other issues on the agenda. "We are very aware of India's importance on the world stage. I think it is very important to get a final resolution of that trade deal. We have been talking now for months that we are very close, and I think we are very close. But we have to get over that last hurdle," Landau told reporters on the sidelines of the SelectUSA Investment Summit at National Harbour in Maryland near here. "I don't have any huge inside information to provide on when that is coming, but I can just reiterate that I believe that we are very, very close," said Landau, who recently visited India. "I think ultimately it's important that we reach some closure on
India is among six countries, including China and Russia, on the priority watch list in a special report released by the US Trade Representative on Thursday that deals with adequacy and effectiveness of trading partners' protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights. The US Special 301 report 2026 lists Vietnam as the Priority Foreign Country (PFC), marking the first time in 13 years that any country is listed in that particular category. "The PFC identification is reserved by statute for countries with the most egregious IP-related acts, policies, and practices with the greatest adverse impact on relevant US products," the USTR said. It said that Vietnam is not entering into good faith negotiations or making significant progress in negotiations to provide adequate and effective IP rights protection. The six countries on the priority watch list include Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Venezuela. Placement of a trading partner on the Priority Watch List
The government on Friday said the three-day trade talks between Indian and US officials concluded on April 23, with both sides agreeing to stay engaged to sustain the momentum ahead. Both sides discussed several areas, such as market access, non-tariff measures, technical barriers to trade, customs and trade facilitation, investment promotion, economic security alignment and digital trade, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement. "The meetings were conducted in a constructive and positive spirit, with meaningful and forward-looking discussions enabling progress on key matters. Both sides agreed to remain engaged to maintain this momentum as they move forward," it said. India and the US issued a joint statement on February 7 finalising a framework for an interim trade agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade. The framework reaffirmed the countries' commitment to the broader India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement negotiations. The Indian side has visit
India is a "tough nut to crack", US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said here as a delegation from New Delhi wrapped up negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement with Washington. The 12-member delegation, led by Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, held talks on the fine print of the trade deal with the US team led by Brendan Lynch, Assistant USTR for South and Central Asia. The three-day talks concluded on Wednesday. "India is a tough nut to crack... they've protected their agricultural markets for a very long time," Greer told the Committee on Ways and Means of the US Congress on Wednesday. "As part of this deal, they want to protect a lot of that. There are things, though, where I think we can find mutual agreement. DDGs (distillers dried grains) is a good example of this," he said. Greer was responding to questions by lawmakers on exports of DDGs, which are used as high-protein livestock feed, soybean meal and ethanol. The USTR said the US
Record growth in solar, especially in China and India, was a driving factor for clean energy sources surpassing the world's strong demand for electricity in 2025, according to a new global power analysis. Clean power generation grew 887 terawatt hours last year, exceeding overall global electricity demand growth of 849 terawatt hours, according to a report by energy think tank Ember, released after midnight Tuesday London time. Ember analyzes electricity data from 215 countries, and studied 2025 data for 91 countries, which the firm says represents 93% of global demand. Overall, the share of renewables - including solar, wind, hydropower and other clean energies - hit more than one-third of the world's electricity mix for the first time in modern history last year, growing 33.8% to 10,730 terawatt hours. It's promising news for a world embattled by climate change that's driven by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas to meet growing needs from economic growth, risin
About a dozen officers from India will reach Washington on April 20 for three-day talks with the US authorities on the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA), an official said. As the tariff landscape has changed in the US, both sides may like to relook at the framework of the agreement, the text of which was released on February 7. Following the decision of the US Supreme Court against the sweeping tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on a number of countries, the Trump administration imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all countries from February 24 for 150 days. "The meeting will happen from April 20-22 in Washington DC. India's chief negotiator Darpan Jain (additional secretary in the department of commerce) is leading the team. Officers from customs and external affairs ministry are also part of the Indian team," the official said. Further, the two unilateral investigations launched by the US Trade Representative (USTR) may also figure in the three-day ...
Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and former National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien here. The meeting on Wednesday comes as India and the US are negotiating the finer elements of a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). A delegation of Indian officials is expected to visit the US to hold discussions on the bilateral trade agreement. "Honored to host Amb. Jamieson Greer and Amb. Robert O'Brien at India House today," Kwatra said in a post on X on Wednesday. In February, India and the US announced finalisation of a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent. "We had productive conversation on a range of bilateral cooperation opportunities. Also discussed important developments across the world. Appreciate their strong and continuing support for strong India-US ties," Kwatra said. Bilateral trade was part of the discussion d
An official delegation will visit Washington next week to hold trade talks with US authorities, an official source said on Wednesday. The bilateral meeting between the trade officials of the two countries holds immense importance as India and the US have finalised the framework for an interim trade agreement. The team will visit the US next week, the source said. The pact was initially slated for signing in March, but changes in the tariff landscape following a US Supreme Court ruling have altered the situation. Official sources have earlier stated that the agreement will be signed once the new global tariff architecture of America is in place. India and the US, in February, announced finalisation of a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent. However, the tariff architecture in the US has changed following its Supreme Court ruling against President Donald Trump's sweep