India-US trade deal progressing as per terms of reference, says govt official

New Delhi (TIP) – The Indo-US trade deal is progressing as per the terms of reference decided between the two countries, commerce ministry officials said on Tuesday. Giving an update on the negotiations, the ministry said that a team of India negotiators is in the US for carrying out the fifth round of negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement.
“The first round of negotiations took place when the US team visited India last week of March. We finalized terms of negotiations thereafter, and the negotiations have been going thereafter. Two rounds of discussions were held when India visited the US in April and May. Then in June, again, the United States team came to India, and we had the fourth round of discussions and negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement,” said chief negotiator and commerce secretary-designate Rajesh Agarwal.
Agarwal refused to speak on any specific details of the negotiations between the two countries. India is hoping to close a limited trade deal by 1 August 2025, when the extended deadline for implementation of reciprocal tariff ends. The US has already announced the revised reciprocal tariff rates for two dozen countries. The revised rates are in the 25-40% range. New tariff for India has not been announced yet.
The trade data released by the commerce ministry showed that despite the 10% reciprocal tariff imposed by the US, India’s exports to the US has jumped by a healthy 22% in April-June quarter, while imports from the country have increased by 12% during the same period. Explaining the growth in exports to the US despite a 10% baseline reciprocal tariff imposed by the US, another commerce ministry official said except for a 10% baseline tariff, no other tariff is there for countries across the world barring China, which has got a higher tariff of 40%.