India-US trade talks: Commerce Ministry to hold meeting with exporters

The Commerce Ministry will meet industry bodies and export promotion councils on September 1 to review India-US trade performance and recent bilateral developments, ahead of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s planned US visit for the G20 Trade Ministerial and bilateral talks

New Delhi: The Commerce Ministry will meet industry associations and representatives of export promotion councils on September 1 to discuss India-US trade performance, an official said.

The meeting will be chaired by Darpan Jain, an Additional Secretary in the ministry. He is also the country’s chief negotiator for the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA).

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The deliberations are important as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit the US in late September to attend the G20 Trade Ministerial in Milwaukee and hold bilateral talks with USTR Jamieson Greer. The two-day ministerial will begin on September 30. The United States holds the 2026 G20 presidency.

The official said the meeting is intended to discuss recent trade trends, the overall sector-wise performance of India-US trade, and recent developments in bilateral trade.

Sectors expected to be represented at the meeting include pharmaceuticals, engineering, textiles, agriculture, chemicals, marine products, leather, automobiles, auto components, handicrafts and plastics.

Industry chambers CII, FICCI, Assocham and FIEO are also likely to participate in the deliberations.

India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement. In February, both sides announced the finalisation of the framework for the first phase of the pact, but changes in the US tariff landscape have led to further negotiations between the two countries on the agreement.

Recently, Goyal stated that the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement between India and the US would come into operation as soon as the United States was able to ensure that India received a comparative advantage over its competitors.

The US imposed an additional 10 per cent tariff on a number of countries, including India, from July 24.

Countries including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia are major competitors of India in the US market. A tariff advantage vis-à-vis these nations would make Indian goods more price-competitive in the American market.

India’s exports to the US grew marginally to USD 87.31 billion in 2025-26 from USD 86.51 billion in the previous fiscal. Imports, on the other hand, rose 17.16 per cent to USD 53.45 billion in the last fiscal year from USD 45.62 billion in 2024-25.

Total trade grew 6.53 per cent to USD 140.76 billion in 2025-26 from USD 132.2 billion in 2024-25. India had a trade surplus of USD 33.9 billion in the last fiscal year, down from USD 40.9 billion in 2024-25.

During April-July 2026-27, India’s exports to the US rose 3 per cent to USD 34.5 billion, while imports grew 22.42 per cent to USD 22.12 billion.

India’s exports to the US include electrical machinery and telecom instruments, including smartphones, generic medicines, diamonds, industrial boilers and cotton textiles. Imports include crude petroleum, liquefied natural gas, coal, metallurgical scrap, precious stones, electronics and aerospace equipment.