India-US trade deal nears finish line, Jaishankar says both sides close to agreement

Résumé détaillé

India and the United States have resolved most issues in their proposed trade agreement. An early conclusion could improve market access while securing balanced tariff advantages…

India and the United States have resolved most issues concerning their proposed trade deal, which could be finalised soon as negotiations enter their last stage, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday, according to news agency Press Trust of India.

His remarks came a month before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit to the US for the G20 Summit. Modi and US President Donald Trump may meet on the sidelines of the summit to review bilateral ties and progress on the trade agreement.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit, Jaishankar said the negotiations were approaching the "finishing line". He added that many of the remaining concerns were "not so much at our end" and that more changes had taken place on the American side.

"Well, it's certainly our hope, and in many ways anticipation that we are at the last stretch. That's not a secret," he said in response to a question about the negotiations.

There has been speculation that India and the US could announce the agreement after talks between Modi and Trump on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, scheduled to be held in Miami on December 14 and 15.

Jaishankar said he understood that most issues had been resolved. "There is the last stretch of issues and in many cases these concerns are not so much at our end, because the changes have been more at the American end than our end," he said.

"The hope is that we should close it out soon. It's always the case that in that last period, everybody's impatient," he added.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said in Mumbai last month that the two countries were very close to finalising the trade deal.

India and the US have been negotiating the proposed agreement since early 2025 to address tariff disputes, remove barriers other than tariffs and improve access to each other's markets. India is seeking better tariffs for its goods in the US than those offered to its competitors.

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