US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer held meetings with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday to discuss on the issues related to the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and work on strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
Sources confirmed that Greer, who is on a three-day visit to New Delhi, will have further meetings on Wednesday. “Looking forward to productive discussions on the bilateral trade agreement between India and the US,” stated Piyush Goyal in a social media post.
Commerce ministry sources had previously confirmed that the agenda of the meetings will include both the negotiations for the proposed BTA and discussions on Section 301. The Indian negotiating team is aiming to have a tariff structure that will provide them a competitive edge over other exporting nations of the US.
“Both sides exchanged views on strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation, with a focus on new opportunities for growth and deeper commercial engagement,” stated the Ministry of Finance.
Greer arrived in New Delhi on Monday to meet with ministers and other senior Indian officials to discuss the United States-India Joint Statement and the Interim Agreement as part of the broader US-India BTA negotiations, launched by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025.
Both sides are aiming to conclude the deal before July 24 as US temporary 10% tariff on all trading countries will expire thereafter. India and the US have been actively involved in negotiations and assured that nearly 99% of the deal has been negotiated and very less remained to be finalised. They are now working on the ‘final touch’.
Under the proposed BTA, India is supposed to receive an investment of $500 billion over a span of five years. India will also got a duty-free market access for majority of the products in the US, which is the second largest trading partner for India.
