India, US fine-tuning trade pact, most talks concluded: Goyal
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India and the US have concluded most of the discussions for a proposed bilateral trade pact, and they are now fine-tuning the agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.
"We have concluded most of the discussions and are fine-tuning the agreement," he said here while talking about the India-US trade agreement.
The minister is here on a two-day official visit. He is accompanying a business delegation.
Addressing the India-Netherlands Business Forum here, he said India has concluded nine free trade agreements in the last four and a half years.
India and the US, in February, announced finalisation of the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA). However, changes in the tariff landscape in the US have led to further negotiations on the pact.
The two countries have been engaged in negotiations since early 2025 on the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) to address issues related to tariffs, besides boosting two-way commerce.
India is seeking lower tariffs than its competitors, such as ASEAN members and Bangladesh, for its goods in the US market.
At present, the US has imposed an additional tariff of 10% on a number of countries, including India, under its Sec 301 probe related to concerns over forced labour.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was recently in India.
Responding to a question on the trade pact during a brief media interaction, he said that "a small number of items are left to be wrapped up" and hoped it will be sealed "shortly".
"I would say we're about as close as you can be without having an executed agreement. I think there's a small number of items left to wrap up. So I think that will happen shortly -- we're hoping, which it should -- and hopefully have some good news to announce fairly soon. And perhaps the leaders can sign it thereafter," he said.
The US was the largest trading partner of India last fiscal.
India's bilateral trade with the US rose 16.5% to $83.14 billion in April-September this fiscal against $71.39 billion in April-September 2025-26.
The outbound shipments to the US rose 11.11% to $50.81 billion from $45.73 billion during April-September 2025-26, while imports grew by 25.98% to $32.32 billion during the first half of this fiscal year from $25.66 billion during April-September 2025-26.
(Except for the headline, Fortune India has not edited the content of this PTI report.)