Highlights
- US team visits India from June 1 to 4 , led by chief negotiator Brendan Lynch
- Talks aim to settle the legal text of a first-phase trade deal agreed in February
- India and the US are also in dispute over two US trade investigations
- India exported £65bn worth of goods to the US last year; imports stood at £39.4bn
A TEAM of American trade officials will travel to New Delhi from June 1–4 to work on the details of an interim trade deal with India and continue broader trade negotiations, India's commerce ministry said on Wednesday (27). The US delegation will be led by its chief negotiator Brendan Lynch.
The two sides are expected to work on the legal text of a first-phase deal and discuss areas including market access, customs, investment and economic security.
India and the US agreed on the outline of a first-phase bilateral trade agreement (BTA) on February 7, when both governments issued a joint statement on its framework. Under that framework, the US agreed to reduce tariffs on Indian goods from 50 per cent to 18 per cent.
However, on February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled against president Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, which had been imposed under a 1977 law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Following that ruling, Trump announced a flat 10 per cent tariff on all countries for 150 days, starting February 24.Those changes altered the terms on which the February framework had been built, and a planned meeting between the two sides was postponed.
'A great deal for both'
The negotiations resumed in April, when an Indian team led by chief negotiator Darpan Jain visited Washington from April 20 to 23. Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said the "complementarity inherent in the economies of the two countries will make the upcoming deal great news for all stakeholders".
The US was India's second-largest trading partner in 2025–26. India's exports to the US rose marginally by 0.92 per cent to £65bn, while imports from the US grew by 15.95 per cent to £39.4bn. India's trade surplus with the US fell to £25.6bn from £30.4bn the previous year.
India has proposed to buy £372bn worth of US goods, including energy products, aircraft, technology and coking coal, over the next five years.
The US Trade Representative launched two separate investigations in March into a number of countries, including India, over concerns about excess production capacity and forced labour in supply chains. India has firmly rejected the allegations and has asked for the investigations to be dropped.
Despite this, US ambassador Sergio Gor has said Washington is confident a deal can be reached in the coming months.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio visited India recently, and the two countries signed a framework on critical minerals on the sidelines of the Quad foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi.
(PTI)
