India has said that the first phase of the proposed India–US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) is “nearing closure”. The initial package will focus on reducing
the steep reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Indian exports. It will also attempt to resolve key market access issues raised by Washington.
A senior government official said the BTA has two major components. One part will require longer negotiations. The other is a tariff-focused package that is almost final.
“We are engaged with the US on the BTA. It has two parts. One part of the negotiations will take time. The other part is a package which can address reciprocal tariffs. We are working on both aspects. The package that can address reciprocal tariffs is more or less near closure, and we should get it soon,” the official said.
The official stressed that the agreement must address the 25 per cent penalty on India. Without this, the deal would have no meaning.
The US currently imposes a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods. It has also added another 25 per cent duty because India purchases Russian crude oil. The first tranche of the trade deal aims to reduce or remove these duties. The announcement will be made on a mutually agreed date.
The official clarified that India’s recent move to import LPG from the US for one year from 2026 is not part of the BTA. However, it fits into India’s broader effort to balance trade with Washington.
India and the US have completed six rounds of negotiations. Both sides are targeting the fall of 2025 to conclude the first phase of the BTA. A high-level Indian delegation led by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal visited Washington last month. The three-day discussions ended on 17 October.
Relations between the two nations have been strained since the Trump administration imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, including the additional 25 per cent duty linked to Russian oil. The proposed agreement aims to more than double bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion. The US is also seeking greater market access for products such as almonds, pistachios, apples, ethanol and genetically modified commodities.
Despite the tensions, the US remains India’s largest trading partner. But India’s exports to the US dipped in September due to high tariffs. Imports, however, rose during the same period.
Trump recently said the US is “pretty close” to a “fair trade deal” with India and hinted at lowering tariffs “at some point”.
India, meanwhile, maintains that its trade decisions will continue to be guided by its economic needs and bilateral relationships.
