BTA talks: India, US trade ministers to assess progress from May 17; to give political guidance

New Delhi: India and the US will commence ministerial-level meetings in Washington from May 17 to assess the progress of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement, provide political guidance to chief negotiators and push forward efforts to deepen economic ties, an official said.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will hold deliberations on the agreement first with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and later with US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer during his four-day visit, the official said.

"The minister will be holding political-level discussions to give negotiations a political steer. They will assess the progress made in the negotiations in the past two months," the official said. This will be the Goyal's second visit to the US.

The minister-level meeting will be followed by the deliberations between chief negotiators of the two countries from May 19 to May 22.

The meetings come against the backdrop of both countries exploring the possibility of an interim trade arrangement in goods to secure "early mutual wins" ahead of finalising the first phase of the trade agreement by fall (September-October) this year.

The main issues that will figure in the negotiations include market access, rules of origin, and non-tariff barriers.

India's proposal to impose a retaliatory duty under the WTO norms on certain US products over American tariffs on steel and aluminium would also figure in the BTA deliberations.

Officials from New Delhi and Washington aim to take advantage of the 90-day tariff pause window to advance the talks.

The US has suspended the additional 26 per cent tariffs on India till July 9. It was announced on April 2 to bridge the widening trade deficit.

However, the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed on the countries will continue to remain in place.

To give impetus to the talks, India's Chief Negotiator for BTA Rajesh Agrawal, special secretary in the Department of Commerce, and Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch last month held three-day deliberations in Washington.

In March this year, Goyal held bilateral meetings with Greer and Lutnick.

India and the US have already initiated sectoral-level talks for the pact.

To boost bilateral trade, India is seeking duty concessions for labour-intensive sectors like textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, chemicals, grapes, and bananas in the proposed pact with America.

On the other hand, the US wants duty concessions in sectors like certain industrial goods, automobiles (electric vehicles in particular), wines, petrochemical products, dairy, agriculture items such as apples, and tree nuts.

The terms of reference (ToRs) for the BTA have been finalised by India and the US, which include around 19 chapters covering issues like tariffs, goods, services, rules of origin, non-tariff barriers, and customs facilitation.

The US has on multiple occasions raised concerns over certain non-tariff barriers being faced by American goods in the Indian markets.

The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at USD 131.84 billion. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in the country's total merchandise trade.

With America, India had a trade surplus (the difference between imports and exports) of USD 41.18 billion in goods in 2024-25. It was USD 35.32 billion in 2023-24, USD 27.7 billion in 2022-23, USD 32.85 billion in 2021-22 and USD 22.73 billion in 2020-21. The US has raised concerns over this widening trade deficit.