Minister Claims India US Trade Deal Nearing as India wants Equal Stations in Tariff Rate with Neighbours

[ABS News Service/16.10.2026]

· The first phase of an India-US trade deal is in the final stages of drafting, India's trade minister said on Thursday, but reiterated that New Delhi would proceed only if it secures an advantage over competing exporters, Reuters news service reported.

New Delhi and Washington agreed to a framework for the deal in February which brought down to 18 percent from 50 percent the punitive tariff on most Indian goods imposed in August last year after a previous round of talks collapsed.

Since then, negotiations have run into hurdles, with officials on both sides signaling that effortsto reach a final agreement have slowed.

Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal said the “first tranche” of the deal would be finalized soon. “It's going through the final contours, the legal drafting, and we hope to be able to finalize that soon and operationalism that once we ?get comparable advantage or competitive advantage over our pee countries,” a statement from his office quoted him as saying at an event in New Delhi.

Goyal was referring to New Delhi's efforts to secure a tariff advantage for Indian exporters over competing economies such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia in the US market.

India wants to ensure its exporters face tariffs no higher than those imposed on competing economies. Trade Secretary Rajesh Agrawal echoed Goyal's comments.

“We anticipate concluding and signing the trade deal at the earliest possible time,” Agrawal said, adding that India was seeking preferential market access and greater tariff stability under the proposed agreement.

India's goods exports to the United States rose to $42.79 billion in April-August from $40.39 billion a year earlier. In the fiscal year 2025/26, India recorded a trade surplus of nearly $34 billion with the United States.

Neither side has publicly detailed the reasons for the delay, but one recent complication has been a new US law that could pave the way for tariffs of up to 100 percent on Indian goods because of New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil.