US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is scheduled to visit India next week for a two-day meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on June 23-24 to discuss issues related to the interim trade agreement, a senior government official said on Monday.
“We expect the discussions to be focused on finalizing the framework agreement, which was discussed during the (US) delegation’s visit… as well as on the larger BTA (bilateral trade agreement), which was also under discussions between the two sides,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said.
The US Trade Representative is expected to arrive here on June 22.
Earlier, on June 2 and 4, the US team, headed by its chief negotiator Brendan Lynch, held discussions with Indian officials on finalizing the deal.
On June 5, Goyal said that India and the US are moving towards closing all open ends of the TPA, and the two sides are likely to implement the “very vibrant” first phase of the TPA by the middle of next month.
At the senior negotiator level, the two sides held discussions on a wide range of issues, including trade in goods, non-tariff measures, customs and trade facilitation, economic security harmonization and other areas of mutual interest.
On February 7, India and the United States issued a joint statement finalizing the parameters or framework of the first phase of the free trade agreement or interim trade agreement.
According to this framework, the United States agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 percent from 50 percent. It eliminated the 25 percent customs duty on Indian goods for purchase of Russian oil, and the remaining 25 percent was to be reduced to 18 percent under the agreement.
But on February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs, which he imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977.
After that, the US President announced the imposition of 10 percent customs duties on all countries for a period of 150 days, starting on February 24. It ends on July 24. The two sides are expected to finalize the interim agreement before that.
As the tariff landscape in the United States changes, both sides may want to reconsider the framework of the agreement.
The February joint statement on the framework includes a provision stating that in the event of any changes in agreed tariffs for either country, the United States and India agree that the other country may modify its commitments.
Under the agreed framework, India proposed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products, including dried distillers grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, wines and spirits, and additional products.
New Delhi also expressed its intention to purchase US$500 billion worth of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coke over the next five years.
When the framework was agreed upon, India had a comparative advantage over its competing countries, such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Now, with all US trading partners facing a uniform 10% tariff, the agreement requires recalibration.
It is important for India to gain an advantage over its rival countries on the tariff front in the trade agreement.
Since the US Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s sweeping tariffs, the US administration now has the option of using the Section 301 investigative mechanism to impose new tariffs.
Sources previously reported that the United States could use this mechanism as a pressure tactic to bring its trading partners to the table to negotiate trade deals.
In March, the US Trade Representative launched two unilateral Section 301 investigations against a number of countries, including India, over excess capacity and failure to eliminate forced labor in global supply chains.
On June 2, the US Trade Representative proposed 12.5% tariffs on 54 countries, including India, for allegedly failing to ban the import of goods produced using forced labor.
The proposed fee follows investigations launched in March against 60 countries under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act over forced labor concerns.
The USTR said the measure is still proposed and has not yet been finalized, adding that interested parties can submit requests to appear at hearings and certification summaries by June 22. The US Trade Representative is scheduled to hold hearings on July 7.
The US was India’s second largest trading partner in 2025-26.
India’s outbound shipments to the US rose marginally by 0.92 per cent to US$87.3 billion during the last fiscal year, while imports increased by 15.95 per cent to US$52.9 billion. The trade surplus fell to US$34.4 billion in 2025-26 from US$40.89 billion in 2024-25.
