Through video-conferences and soon-to-be physical meetings, Indian government officials are hard at work to sew up a possible interim trade deal with the US on “win win” terms for both the countries within the 90-day pause time in reciprocal tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump.
“We are in continuous engagement. It could be through video conferencing. It could be some visits both ways. Work has started. We are ahead of everybody else. Amongst various possibilities, the two sides could reach an agreement on tariffs within 90 days if it is a win-win for both,” an official source told businessline.
On Wednesday, Trump put on hold for a 90-day period the reciprocal tariffs he had announced on trade partners, including a 26 per cent levy on India. A baseline tariff of 10 per cent remained applicable on all.
The proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) would, however, take more time and efforts are on to deliver the first tranche by the Fall of 2025, the official said.
The terms of reference for proposed BTA have already been signed by the two sides.
“Everything is on the table, both tariffs and non-tariff issues,” the official said. This indicates that issues such as intellectual property, government procurement, digital trade and data localisation, which the US has been interested in for a long time, were also up for discussion.
“A lot of possibilities are there to finalise low-hanging fruits. Lot of possibilities are there to finalise the form and shape of the BTA,” the official said.
Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that securing the country’s interests would be of foremost concern in any negotiation.
“We never negotiate at gunpoint. Favourable time constraints motivate us for quicker talks, but till the time we are not able to secure the interest of our country and our people, we do not hurry,” Goyal said on Friday.
The Minister added that India was already in dialogue with the US for a bilateral trade agreement and with the huge opportunities offered by the country with a 1.4 billion population, it is a compelling case to enter into a good agreement for the US.
According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the sweeping reciprocal tariffs announced by Trump were part of a negotiating strategy that brought more than 75 countries forward to negotiate. Trade negotiations were mainly taking place with “China’s neighbours” like Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and India, he said on Thursday.
“...I saw Vietnam today. Japan is in front, South Korea and India,” Bessent said.
India wants to reach an amicable settlement with the US on the reciprocal tariffs as it is the country’s largest export destination. In 2024, India exported goods worth $77.51 billion to the US and its imports were worth $42.19 billion leading to a trade imbalance of over $35 billion.