India has reportedly sought full exemption from the 26 per cent tariff, levied by the US on April 2. As per an official, the two nations that are already discussing a bilateral trade agreement, might announce the BTA before July 8. This development comes after Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to the US, where he held meetings with US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
According to agency reports, the official said India’s endeavour to protect its sensitive sectors may entail some quota or minimum import price (MIP).
“Talks are moving positively. Before July 8, we are looking at concluding an interim deal before the first tranche. It will include goods, non-tariff barriers, some areas of services also like digital. We are trying that the 26 per cent additional duty and the 10 per cent baseline tariff should not be there for India,” the official told PTI. India is seeking concessions for its labour-intensive sectors such as textiles and leather.
Both the countries have fixed a deadline by the fall of this year to conclude the first phase of the BTA. While the Trump administration would need approval of the US Congress to bring tariffs below the most favoured nation rates, it could remove reciprocal tariffs imposed on a number of countries, including India.
The US imposed a 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods, but then suspended it for 90 days, till July 9. New Delhi and Washington officials are keen to take advantage of the 90-day tariff pause window to advance the trade talks. However, the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed by America remains in place.
India is seeking concessions for labour-intensive sectors like textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, chemicals, grapes, and bananas, while US wants concessions in sectors like automobiles (electric vehicles in particular), wines, petrochemical products, dairy, agriculture items such as apples, tree nuts and GM (genetically modified) crops, and even certain industrial goods.
The US is India’s largest trading partner with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion. India had a trade surplus with the US of $41.18 billion in goods in 2024-25. The US accounts for India’s 18 per cent total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in the country’s total merchandise trade.
