Top US trade official to visit India this week as Delhi, Washington race to seal interim deal

US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer will travel to New Delhi this week for talks with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and senior Indian officials to push forward negotiations on the proposed bilateral trade agreement between the two countries.

The visit comes amid signs of progress in the India-US trade talks, with both sides working to conclude an interim agreement as part of the broader bilateral trade pact.

In a statement, the Office of the United States Trade Representative said Greer will discuss the “historic” joint statement between the two countries and the interim agreement under the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement negotiations launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on February 13, 2025.

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor also confirmed Greer’s visit in a post on X, saying multiple sessions were scheduled with Goyal to advance the India-US trade deal.

The meeting between Greer and Goyal comes close on the heels of negotiator-level discussions on the proposed pact held in New Delhi from June 2 to 4.

The visit also follows the meeting between Modi and Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France last week, where the US president said India and the US were very close to finalising the trade agreement.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Modi and Trump have instructed officials of the two countries to work towards concluding a “balanced, mutually beneficial and commercially meaningful” bilateral trade agreement at the earliest.

The two leaders also reviewed progress under the India-US COMPACT initiative — Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology — launched during Modi’s visit to Washington in February this year.

“The leaders noted with particular satisfaction the significant progress made in negotiations towards an interim Bilateral Trade Agreement and instructed their officials to work towards a balanced, mutually beneficial, and commercially meaningful agreement at the earliest,” the MEA had said in a statement.

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal had earlier said discussions between Greer and Goyal were expected to focus on giving final touches to the framework deal as well as the larger bilateral trade agreement under negotiation.

“Our expectation is that discussions will be centred around giving final touches to the framework deal... and also on the larger BTA, that has also been under discussions between the two sides,” Agrawal had said.

On June 5, Goyal had said India and the US were moving towards closing all the open ends of the interim trade agreement, and that both sides were likely to conclude the “very, very vibrant” first phase of the BTA by the middle of next month.

India and the US had finalised the contours of the first phase of the trade pact in a joint statement issued on February 7.

However, subsequent changes in the US tariff regime have prompted a reassessment of certain aspects of the framework.