The first phase of a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between India and the US could take shape by the end of 2025.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on a five-day visit to the US between April 20 to 25, said India is actively engaging with the US administration to finalise the first phase of the BTA, with hopes of concluding it by fall (September–October) this year.
“We are one of the countries which is actively engaged with the new administration of the US to see how best we can get a bilateral trade agreement done,” she said during an interaction with the Indian diaspora in the US.
Notably, US vice-president J.D. Vance has also arrived in India on a four-day visit amid the ongoing trade talks.
On the pace of the talks, Sitharaman highlighted the strong commitment shown by India, citing multiple high-level visits, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in February, and subsequent visits by the commerce minister and herself for the IMF and World Bank meetings.
“I’m scheduled to meet my counterpart, the US Treasury Secretary,” she added, emphasising the intensity of ongoing diplomatic engagement.
The proposed trade agreement is being structured in two phases. The first phase, or tranche, is expected to focus on key tariff and market access issues.
“The long and short of engaging with the US is not just reciprocal tariff-related matter, but in the interest of keeping an agreement in mind... We are working in order that by the fall this year, we should have the first phase of the agreement signed,” she said.
On April 2, the US President announced broad reciprocal tariffs on imports from several countries, including India and China.
However, on April 9, a 90-day suspension of these tariffs was announced (excluding China and Hong Kong) as 75 countries entered trade talks with the US.
China still faces tariffs of up to 245 per cent on its exports to the US.
Amid these developments, a US Trade Representative (USTR) official visited India to assess progress and continue tariff-related negotiations for the trade deal.
