India and the US are working to enhance market access, reduce trade barriers, and integrate supply chains as they negotiate a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), aiming for completion by fall 2025, Minister of State for Commerce Jitin Prasada informed the Lok Sabha. Following a week-long US visit by an Indian ministerial delegation, he clarified that the US has not yet imposed reciprocal tariffs on India.
Discussions between the two nations include lowering high tariffs on products like automobiles while benefiting India’s labor-intensive industries such as engineering goods, textiles, gems, jewellery, and marine products. India’s exports in these sectors collectively reached billions of dollars in FY 2023-24, as per commerce ministry data.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, on February 13, agreed to negotiate the first phase of a “mutually beneficial, multi-sector” BTA and set an ambitious goal—”Mission 500″—to double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
Additionally, the US issued a directive to investigate non-reciprocal trade practices, aiming to ensure fair trade terms. A Trump administration fact sheet highlighted India’s significantly higher tariffs compared to US tariffs, citing India’s 100% tariff on US motorcycles versus the US’s 2.4% tariff on Indian motorcycles.
India remains committed to a balanced trade relationship, actively engaging with the US to resolve tariff and non-tariff issues. Bilateral trade between the two nations exceeded $190 billion in 2023, with India enjoying a trade surplus of $43.65 billion.
