Is US ready to roll back steep tariffs on Indian goods? Here’s what Piyush Goyal said on trade talks

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that discussions between India and the United States on the proposed bilateral trade agreement are progressing, expressing hope that both sides will work towards a “fair and equitable” deal in the near future.

Speaking to Doordarshan in Berlin, Goyal said, “We are in dialogue with the USA, our teams are engaged. We recently had the Commerce Secretary visit the US, and he met with his counterparts. We continue to engage with them and talks are progressing.”

“We hope to work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future,” he added.

His comments come amid reports suggesting that India and the US are close to finalising a long-pending trade pact that could sharply lower tariffs on Indian exports to around 15–16%, from the current effective rate of nearly 50%.

Talks gaining traction

An Indian delegation led by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal held three days of talks with US counterparts in Washington last week, concluding discussions on October 17.

Last month, Goyal had also led an official delegation to New York for preparatory talks with senior US officials, including those from the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR).

The proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) aims to be completed by October-November of 2025. So far, five rounds of negotiations have been completed.

Tariff rollback likely on the table

According to reports, Washington may consider rolling back part of the steep 50% tariff on Indian goods imposed during the Trump administration. The punitive duties, including a 25% additional levy linked to India’s continued purchase of Russian crude oil, had severely strained bilateral trade ties.

India has consistently described these duties as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”

The US, on the other hand, is reportedly seeking commitments from New Delhi to diversify energy imports and gradually reduce dependence on Russian crude, in exchange for improved trade terms.

The proposed pact is seen as a major step towards doubling bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion.

The US remained India’s largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024–25, with bilateral trade valued at USD 131.84 billion, including USD 86.5 billion worth of exports from India.

However, India’s merchandise exports to the US fell 11.9% to USD 5.46 billion in September, largely due to the high tariff burden, while imports from the US rose 11.8 % to USD 3.98 billion, according to data from the Commerce Ministry.