India ‘actively engaging’ with US, hopes to conclude first tranche of bilateral pact by Oct: Sitharaman

22 Apr 2025 Evaluate

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said India is ‘actively engaging’ with the new US administration and hopes to conclude the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement ‘positively’ by fall (September-October) this year. She said ‘We are one of the countries which is actively engaged with the new administration of the United States of America to see how best we can get a bilateral trade agreement done’. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to launch talks for a bilateral trade deal amid the lurking fear of reciprocal tariff being imposed by Washington.

The US and India have aimed for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA), which is a kind of free trade pact. The two have decided to conclude the proposed BTA in two tranches or phases. She said ‘So, the long and short of engaging with the US is not just reciprocal tariff-related matter but in the interest of keeping an agreement in mind and in the interest of one of the largest trading partners with whim we need to have agreement we are working in order that by the fall this year we should have first phase of agreement signed’.

The US President announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs (or import duties) on a number of countries, including India and China, on April 2. However, on April 9, he announced a 90-day suspension of these tariffs until July 9 this year, except for those on China and Hong Kong, as about 75 countries approached America for trade deals. China is facing up to 245 per cent duty on its goods entering the US. She said ‘In between all this, the Assistant USTR (US Trade Representative) had visited India to see the progress or to engage with the negotiating team who is dealing with the tariff-related negotiation and the bilateral trade agreement that we want to sign. In fact, the progress of the agreement, or the trade agreement that we are working on, at least a first tranche is something which we hope to conclude positively by the fall this year’.


© 2025 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×