This article covers the India-US trade deal, the tariff advantage India is seeking, Piyush Goyal’s latest statement, the current status of negotiations and the next steps towards finalising the agreement.
India and the United States are yet to finalise their much-anticipated trade deal, with the Indian government now indicating that the agreement will depend on securing a favourable tariff advantage for Indian exporters. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India is waiting for a comparative tariff advantage before moving ahead with the pact, as negotiations continue between the two countries.
India and the United States are negotiating a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) which is aimed at expanding market access and reducing trade barriers between the two countries. The agreement is intended to make it easier for Indian and American businesses to access each other’s markets by lowering tariffs and addressing other trade-related restrictions. The interim trade framework was announced in February 2026. Under the framework, India agreed to reduce or eliminate tariffs on a range of US industrial and agricultural products, while Washington agreed to lower tariffs on Indian exports. The proposed agreement is also expected to provide greater market access for Indian exporters across sectors while protecting sensitive areas of the domestic economy.
The issue with this deal not being finalised yet is competitiveness. India wants the tariff treatment it receives in the US market to give its exporters an advantage over competing economies. This has become particularly important because changes in US tariff policy have altered the terms that were discussed earlier in the year. To prevent Indian products from facing higher duties than similar goods from competing manufacturing countries, the government is therefore seeking preferential tariff treatment before it commits to the final agreement.
The tariff situation was also complicated by a US Supreme Court ruling in February that struck down the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the legal basis for broad presidential tariffs. This changed the tariff framework under which the earlier India-US understanding had been negotiated.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has now made India's position clear. Recently, on Thursday, he said India is ready to agree once the US provides a preferential tariff rate compared with India's competitors.
“As soon as the US is able to give us the preferential rate in comparison to our competition, we will finalise the BTA and announce the final details,” Goyal said.
His comments indicate that the remaining delay is not about abandoning the agreement, but about securing terms that India considers sufficiently competitive for its exporters.
India won't sign until the numbers work in its favor | India will announce the final details of its trade deal with the United States as soon as Washington is able to give New Delhi a tariff advantage over competing manufacturing economies such as Vietnam, Thailand, the… pic.twitter.com/JmXLmmucBl
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) September 3, 2026
India and the US remain engaged in negotiations, with India continuing to push for better tariff terms before the agreement is finalised. The government has also been consulting exporters and industry representatives on market-access concerns ahead of Goyal's planned visit to the US later this month for the G20 Trade Ministers' meeting. The next major step will therefore be for the two sides to resolve the tariff question. Once Washington offers India the preferential tariff advantage it is seeking, Goyal has indicated that New Delhi will move towards finalising and announcing the remaining details of the BTA.
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