Highlights:
- Fresh push for trade deal after months of stalled negotiations.
- Piyush Goyal’s US visit featured meetings with top trade officials and CEOs.
- 50 per cent tariff issue and market access remain key hurdles.
- American investors show confidence in India’s growth story.
- Talks gain momentum after Trump-Modi phone call earlier this month.
India and the United States have agreed to intensify efforts toward finalising a long-pending, mutually beneficial bilateral trade deal, the commerce ministry announced on Friday (26) after commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal returned from a three-day visit to America.
The visit, which concluded on Friday (26), marked a fresh phase of engagement after months of stalled talks. Goyal, accompanied by a high-level delegation led by chief negotiator and special secretary of commerce Rajesh Agrawal, held a series of meetings in Washington between September 22-24 with senior US trade officials and business leaders. The ministry described the discussions as “constructive,” adding that both sides explored the possible contours of the agreement and agreed to continue talks to achieve its early conclusion.
During his visit, Goyal met with US trade representative Jamieson Greer and ambassador-designate to India Sergio Gor, focusing on resolving key sticking points, including the 50 per cent tariffs imposed by Washington on Indian goods. The agenda also covered issues of market access, agricultural products, and India’s energy security policies — long-standing hurdles that have delayed previous rounds of negotiations.
Apart from official talks, Goyal engaged with prominent American industry leaders to boost investor confidence in India. The minister met top executives from Blackstone, FedEx, IBM, the Carlyle Group, and Warburg Pincus, who expressed optimism about India’s growth trajectory and showed keen interest in expanding their business operations in the country. The ministry said the CEOs “reposed confidence in the India growth story and expressed their desire to intensify their business activities in India.”
The visit coincided with external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s meetings in New York and Washington, signaling a broader diplomatic push to strengthen bilateral ties beyond trade.
This was the highest-level ministerial interaction on trade since negotiations stalled in August, with momentum reportedly picking up after a phone call from US President Donald Trump to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the former’s birthday earlier this month.
Despite the renewed optimism, officials acknowledged that challenges remain, particularly around sensitive issues such as market access for US agricultural products and India’s policy framework for energy security. These sticking points have historically slowed progress on the trade deal, but both governments appear committed to reaching a breakthrough.
