US team likely to visit India next week for trade talks: Sources

This visit of the US officials would be the second after the imposition of a 25% tariff and an additional 25% penalty on Indian goods entering the American market for buying Russian crude oil.

New Delhi: A team of officials from the US is expected to visit India next week for talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement, sources said on Thursday.

The visit is crucial as India and the US are working to finalise the first tranche of the pact.

"The team is likely to come next week. Dates are being finalised, and discussions are on," said one of the sources.

This visit of the US officials would be the second after the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff and an additional 25 per cent penalty on Indian goods entering the American market for buying Russian crude oil.

Earlier, the team had visited on September 16.

On September 22, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also led an official delegation to the US for trade talks.

He was accompanied by the then special secretary in the ministry, Rajesh Agrawal and other officials. Agrawal is now India's commerce secretary.

The USA's Chief Negotiator for the pact is Brendan Lynch.

The next week's visit would be important as Agrawal has recently stated that India is hopeful of reaching a framework trade deal with the US this year itself, which should address the tariff issue to the benefit of Indian exporters.

While noting that the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) will take time, Agrawal has said that India is engaged in protracted negotiations with the US on a framework trade deal that will address the reciprocal tariff challenge faced by Indian exporters today.

India and the US are having two parallel negotiations -- one on a framework trade deal to address tariffs and another on a comprehensive trade deal.

In February, leaders of the two countries directed officials to negotiate a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

It was planned to conclude the first tranche of the pact by the fall of 2025. So far, six rounds of negotiations have been held. The pact is aimed at more than doubling the bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion.

Goyal visited Washington earlier in May. He held deliberations with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington.

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 (USD 86.5 billion exports).

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.

India's merchandise exports to the US declined for the second consecutive month in October, falling by 8.58 per cent to USD 6.3 billion due to the hefty tariffs imposed by Washington, while imports increased by 13.89 per cent to USD 4.46 billion during the month, according to the commerce ministry data.