Washington’s trade representative says however, that “sticking points” have been identified and a Trump-Modi call a day earlier was “very constructive”
The US and India are not on the cusp of a trade deal despite negotiations nearing completion, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Thursday following talks with Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in Milwaukee.
The two sides have identified the remaining sticking points and are working to resolve them, Greer told reporters after the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting. “I don’t think there is something imminent,” he said, adding, “We’re in the short strokes” and that negotiations were approaching their final stages. He did not specify which issues remained unresolved.
Greer described his meeting with Goyal as constructive and said officials from both countries were continuing discussions. The Indian minister said the talks focused on concluding an interim agreement under the broader India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
The meeting came on the heels of a phone call between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on Wednesday. The leaders reviewed cooperation in trade, defense, energy, and critical technologies. Greer called their conversation “very constructive” and said the two leaders could speak again soon to assess progress.
India and the US agreed on a framework for an interim trade agreement in February, but subsequent changes in Washington’s tariff policies have prolonged negotiations. The framework envisaged lower Indian tariffs on US industrial and selected agricultural products, alongside tariff relief for certain Indian exports.
Goyal said last week that the pact was almost “done and dusted,” but its implementation depended on India securing competitive tariff treatment relative to rival exporters.
The negotiations are also taking place amid renewed US tariff pressure over India’s Russian oil purchases. Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act last month, authorizing tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian energy.
New Delhi has warned that such measures could affect bilateral relations and international energy markets. Greer did not identify Russian oil as one of the remaining obstacles to the trade agreement.
