Washington and New Delhi are nearing the completion of a formalized trade deal, news agency ANI reported citing senior US officials. The report comes as an Indian delegation began a fresh round of negotiations in Washington on Monday.
“The Trump Administration and India continue to have positive and productive discussions towards a finalized trade deal,” a Senior US official said. Another unnamed official said that “most of it is almost done,” adding that there weren’t many “loose ends left.”
The latest round of talks is being led by Darpan Jain from the Indian side, additional secretary of the Department of Commerce and is accompanied by about a dozen Indian officials.
The American negotiators are being led by Brendan Lynch from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the agency responsible for developing and coordinating US trade policy, dw.com reports.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor welcomed the development in a post on X on Monday, saying: “The Indian trade delegation will be arriving in Washington this week. A great step to finalize our bilateral trade deal. A win-win for both nations,”
India and the US agreed to an interim trade deal in February under which India would reduce tariffs on US industrial and agricultural products. In exchange, the US dropped trade tariffs on India from a peak of 50% to 18%.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also expected in New Delhi for a state visit in May, likely to discuss trade, security and energy.
