India's chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Thursday said that most of the trade issues between India and the United States of America have been "sorted out", and that he will be surprised if a deal is not struck by March 2026.

The CEA made these remarks in an interview to Bloomberg TV on December 11, 2025. He further said that FY 27 economic outlook has a positive momentum.

A delegation led by US trade representative (USTR) Rick Switzer is in New Delhi for two-day talks with his Indian counterpart Rajesh Agarwal. The USTR, along with Brendan Lynch, Assistant US trade representative for south and central Asia, will hold discussions with India's commerce secretary Rajesh Agarwal, and Darpan Jain, joint secretary, Department of Commerce.

The CEA's comments come a day after USTR Jamieson Greer called India a "tough nut to crack". Testifying before a Senate Appropriations Committee, Greer said that India's latest market-access offer is the "best ever" the US has seen.

"There’s resistance in India to certain row crops and other meats and products. Like you said, they’re a very difficult nut to crack. I agree with that 100%," Greer told lawmakers. "But they’ve been quite forward leaning. The type of offers they’ve been talking to us about have been the best we’ve ever received, as a country."

India's benchmark indices S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 have risen over 0.5% from day's lows after the CEA's comments came out. As of Thursday, 11:00 am, NSE Nifty 50 was trading 33.75 points higher at 25,791.75, while the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 70.5 points higher at 84,461.78.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal also echoed the sentiments in a statement he made on Wednesday. “Talks are continuously progressing with them. We are moving forward towards a bilateral trade agreement,” Piyush Goyal told the media.

Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs on rice imports from India after a farmer representative alleged rice dumping by India, Thailand and China.

“Why is India allowed to do that? They have to pay tariffs. Do they have an exemption on rice?” Trump asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. When Bessent told the trade deal is in works, Trump responded saying "but they [India] shouldn’t be doing that... We will get it settled. Tariffs solve the problem in two minutes."