Trade Deals

India-US trade deal talks nearing 'landing point', says Jaishankar

India and the US are continuing to engage to iron out differences on the proposed trade deal, and negotiations are heading towards a "landing point," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, while noting that the core fundamentals of the bilateral strategic partnership remain unchanged. The external affairs minister's comments on the trade negotiations came over a week after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the talks on the trade deal have reached a "plateau". "I think we are waiting on a few things. I wouldn't be comfortable spilling the beans in public," he said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Tuesday evening when asked about the status of the negotiations between the two sides. Jaishankar said India's trade minister, the US Trade Representative (USTR) and other officials concerned are engaged in talks to move forward on the bilateral trade pact. "When countries negotiate with an economy like the United States, obviously one part of it is what you work out .

Govt's free trade push could lead to $140 billion GDP gain for India

The surge in US tariffs since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 is redrawing global trade links

India's new trade pacts to provide access to $60 trillion GDP: Piyush Goyal

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said nine trade agreements, including the nearly concluded US pact, will expand India's preferential access to global markets

India-New Zealand trade pact to come into force on Oct 20: Piyush Goyal

The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement will come into force on October 20, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. The two countries had on April 27 signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to boost two-way commerce in goods and services and promote investments. The agreement will come into force on Dussehra, which is on Oct 20, Goyal said. The FTA provides duty-free access for 100 per cent of India's exports to New Zealand. Currently, New Zealand maintains peak tariffs of up to 10 per cent on key Indian goods, including ceramics, carpets, automobiles, and auto components. New Zealand has committed to invest USD 20 billion over 15 years in India.

New Zealand Parliament passes India FTA Bill, clears tariffs on 95% exports

The legislation passed by a vote of 93-29, with support from the opposition Labour Party

Space, steel, fintech at heart of Luxembourg's India push: Lex Delles

We want Indian companies to use Luxembourg as a gateway to Europe, said Lex Delles

Surge in imports bill pushes trade deficit to 6-month high of $31.98 bn

Goods imports rose to a nine-month high of $76.22 billion in July, while goods exports jumped nearly 20 per cent to $44.24 billion during the month

US imposes tariffs of 10-12.5% on imports from 60 trading partners

Goods from some 10 trading partners deemed to have adopted forced-labor restrictions will be subject to 10% tariffs, including India, Mexico, the UK and Canada

India, Canada conclude third round of trade talks, eye deal by 2026

India and Canada concluded the third round of negotiations for the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Ottawa on July 10, as the two sides look to wind up the talks this year itself. The issues that figured in the five-day talks include trade in goods, services, intellectual property, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical barriers to trade, among others. "India and Canada concluded the 3rd Round of negotiations for the India-Canada CEPA in Ottawa from 6-10 July 2026. The discussions witnessed positive progress across multiple negotiating tracks, reaffirming the shared commitment of both countries to conclude the negotiations in 2026, in line with the vision of the leaders," the Department of Commerce said in a social media post. The negotiations are important as the two sides have targeted to increase the bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2030. In 2025-26, the two-way trade dipped 8.22 per cent to USD 7.95 billion (USD 4.

India seeks review of 12.5% proposed tariff, cites flaws in USTR's report

India has asserted that trade issues with the US should be resolved through bilateral trade negotiations rather than unilateral measures, urging the USTR to reconsider its proposed 12.5 per cent tariff, citing inconsistencies in its Section 301 investigation into forced labour concerns. Participating in the public hearing, Joint Secretary in Department of Commerce Brij Mohan Mishra submitted that in light of India's genuine engagement on forced labour issues, it strongly expresses its concerns at the USTR's (US Trade Representative) determination. India takes the elimination of forced labour seriously as a constitutional obligation, and as a matter of international law and principle. "India would like to highlight its concerns with the USTR's report and findings against India," he said. The USTR has not satisfied the relevant legal standards under Section 301(d) of the Trade Act. A mere absence of a forced labour import prohibition without evidentiary basis of other statutory ...

US trade pact proposal more like one-sided market access: Ashwani Mahajan

Ashwani Mahajan says the proposed India-US trade pact has become a one-sided market access arrangement, with key differences persisting over agriculture, data and Russian oil

US Trade Representative Greer on visit to India to discuss trade deal

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is visiting India to take forward the discussions on the interim trade deal agreed to by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump in February. "This week, Ambassador Jamieson Greer will travel to New Delhi, India, to meet with the Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, Piyush Goyal, and other senior Indian officials to discuss the historic US-India joint statement and the interim agreement as part of the broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations," the office of the US Trade Representative said in a statement on Sunday. Trump and Modi met on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting in France last week where the US president said that India and the US were very close to finalising the trade agreement. Trump also called Modi a tough negotiator and highlighted the personal rapport he enjoyed with the Indian prime minister. The meeting between Greer and Goyal comes close on the heels of negotiator-level discussions o

India, US to hold two-day ministerial-level trade pact talks this week

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will hold two-day talks this week on the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. "For the US trade deal talks, tomorrow my counterpart is coming to Delhi," Goyal told reporters in Mumbai. The meeting followed chief negotiator-level discussions on the pact held earlier this month (June 2-4) here in the national capital. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has recently stated that the discussions between the two ministers are expected to be centred around giving final touches to the framework deal. On June 5, Goyal said India and the US are moving towards closing all the open ends of the interim trade agreement, and both sides are likely to execute the "very, very vibrant" first phase of the BTA by the middle of next month. IMPORTANCE OF THE MIDDLE OF NEXT MONTH -------------------------------------------------- The 10 per cent temporary tariff imposed by the US on all its trading partners o

India-UK social security pact to yield £500 million annual savings

The Double Contribution Convention will exempt eligible Indian professionals and employers from UK social security payments for five years, reducing costs significantly

PM Modi, Trump push for early India-US trade deal; Greer to visit next week

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump directed their officials to work towards a balanced, mutually beneficial and commercially meaningful trade agreement at the earliest. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said this on Thursday, a day after the two leaders held wide-ranging talks for the first time in 16 months on the margins of the G7 Summit in an attempt to rebuild the strained bilateral ties. US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, will be visiting India next week to take forward the talks on the proposed trade deal. In the meeting, Modi and Trump reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and advancing cooperation across all domains for the mutual benefit of the two countries and their peoples, the MEA said. "The leaders noted with particular satisfaction the significant progress made in negotiations towards an interim bilateral trade agreement and instructed their officials to work ...

India-US ties have not lost momentum: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

India and the US discussed energy security, trade, immigration and Indo-Pacific maritime safety as Marco Rubio sought to reassure New Delhi on bilateral ties

FTAs must drive exports, not just imports: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal urged Indian industry to use upcoming FTAs to boost exports and avoid a surge in imports

Govt working on FTA utilisation plan to maximise benefits for businesses

With India signing a series of free trade agreements with developed countries, the government is working on an FTA utilisation plan to help maximise benefits from these pacts, an official said. Since 2021, India has finalised free trade agreements (FTAs) with Mauritius, Australia, the UAE, Oman, New Zealand, the EFTA (European Free Trade Association), the European Union (EU), the UK and US. These pacts cover 38 countries whose combined global imports stand at about USD 12 trillion. The main Indian sectors that have received duty-free market access in these FTA partner countries include agriculture, textiles and apparel, gems and jewellery, leather and leather goods, engineering, electronics, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has held a series of meetings with industry associations, businesses and export promotion councils (EPCs) on ways to increase utilisation of these agreements. He suggested that businesses leverage these pacts to boost .

Court setbacks to Trump tariffs may delay BTA talks with India: Experts

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, US 'very, very close' to signing trade deal, says Trump official

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