India, US to continue trade pact talks in Delhi as American delegation set to visit next month

After some months of slowing talks, India and the United States are set to intensify negotiations on their proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), with a high-level American delegation scheduled to visit New Delhi from June 1 to 4 for another round of discussions

According to an official statement from the Ministry of Commere and Industry, the meet is aimed at finalising an interim trade pact between the two countries.

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"The U.S. team led by the Chief Negotiator will be visiting India from 1-4th June 2026. It is proposed to finalize the details of the Interim Agreement and take forward the negotiations," the Piyush Goyal-led ministry said.

The visiting delegation will be led by the US Chief Negotiator and is expected to hold extensive consultations with Indian officials on a range of sensitive and strategic trade issues, including market access, customs and trade facilitation, non-tariff barriers, investment promotion and economic security cooperation.

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The upcoming meetings follow the joint statement issued by New Delhi and the Washington on in early February this year, in which both sides agreed on a framework for an interim reciprocal trade arrangement while reaffirming their commitment to a broader and more comprehensive Bilateral Trade Agreement.

The statement further comes just days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held his maiden visit to India during which he held talks with PM Modi, and EAM Jaishankar, among other Indian leaders.

Rubio signals optimism on trade deal

Speaking after his discussions with Jaishankar, Rubio had expressed confidence that India and the US were moving closer to concluding a “beneficial” and “sustainable” trade agreement that would serve the long-term interests of both countries.

“We've made tremendous progress, and I think we're going to wind up with a trade agreement between the US and India that is going to be enduring and beneficial to both sides,” he had said during a joint media briefing in New Delhi.

Rubio defended the Trump administration’s tariff and trade policies, arguing that Washington’s efforts were part of a broader strategy to recalibrate global trade relationships rather than target any one country.

“This is not about India,” Rubio said, adding that the United States was seeking to address what it viewed as long-standing trade imbalances with several countries, including close allies such as the European Union.

Part of the first announcement of a trade deal between the two global powers was the mutual reduction of trade barriers. The US agreed to lower its proposed reciprocal tariff rate on Indian goods from 50% (and later a planned 25%) down to 18%; in return, India agreed to eliminate or slash import duties on all US industrial goods and a broad spectrum of American agricultural products.

Moreover, to secure these preferential tariff rates over regional competitors, New Delhi further announced its intention to expand its trade with the US to $500 billion over the next five years.