India and the United States held three days of trade talks in Washington this week, with senior commerce ministry official Darpan Jain leading the Indian delegation and Brendan Lynch heading the US team.
According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India and the United States agreed to continue their engagement on the proposed trade agreement after the latest round of talks concluded on April 23. The ministry said the discussions were held in a “positive and constructive atmosphere” and helped both sides make progress on key issues.
After the meetings, India said the talks are moving ahead toward a wider trade agreement, while Washington said important gaps remain.
India says talks constructive, sets $500 billion trade goal
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the talks were “ongoing and constructive” and that both countries were working toward “a balanced, mutually beneficial and forward-looking trade agreement,” with a target of $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.
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Reuters noted that this target would be more than double the roughly $212 billion in goods and services trade recorded in 2024.
Market access, digital trade among key issues discussed
A US official told Reuters that the talks were “constructive, but gaps remain,” without elaborating on the sticking points. The Indian commerce ministry said the negotiations covered market access, non-tariff barriers, technical trade regulations, customs procedures, trade facilitation, investment promotion, digital commerce, and economic security. The ministry also said both sides agreed to remain in close contact to preserve the momentum generated during the talks.
No concrete outcome emerged from the latest round, though both sides will c
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US flags farm barriers as both sides seek common ground
Yesterday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said India remains “a tough nut to crack.”
Speaking before the Committee on Ways and Means in the US Congress, he noted that India has long kept strong protections in place for its agriculture sector, making trade negotiations especially difficult. At the same time, he noted that there are areas where both sides could reach common ground, citing distillers' dried grains (DDGs) as one such example.
Earlier this week, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the two sides had nearly finalised the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement, even as uncertainty over US tariff policy continues to complicate the negotiations.
