From renewed engagement under Trump to tariff escalations and breakthrough talks, how negotiations evolved toward a landmark bilateral trade deal
PTI
New Delhi, Updated At : 10:33 AM Feb 03, 2026 IST
Following is the chronology of the developments that led to the announcement of the India-US trade agreement.
February 13, 2025:
A joint statement said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump agreed to deepen the US-India trade relationship, setting a goal to more than double bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the then-current over USD 191 billion. They announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall 2025.
March 4-6, 2025:
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited Washington DC and held bilateral meetings with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
April 2, 2025:
US President Donald Trump announced an additional import duty of 26 per cent (10 per cent baseline tariff and 16 per cent reciprocal tariff) on Indian goods.
April 9, 2025:
The US suspended the 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods for 90 days (until July 9, 2025).
April 23-29, 2025:
Indian chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal (now Commerce Secretary) visited Washington for the first in-person meeting with US counterparts for the proposed trade pact. They discussed terms of reference covering 19 chapters, including tariffs, non-tariff barriers and customs facilitation.
May 17-20, 2025:
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited Washington and met USTR Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
June 4-10, 2025:
A US delegation led by Additional US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch visited India for week-long discussions covering market access, digital trade, customs facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and the legal framework.
June 26, 2025:
An Indian delegation led by Agrawal again visited Washington for the next round of talks to bridge differences before the July 9 deadline.
June 27, 2025:
US President Donald Trump said America was going to have a “very big” trade deal with India.
July 31, 2025:
The US announced a 25 per cent duty to be effective from August 7, 2025 (9:30 am IST).
Aug 6, 2025:
Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on goods from India as a penalty for New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil. After this order, the total tariff on Indian goods, barring a small exemption list, rose to 50 per cent, to be effective from August 27, 2025.
Sep 16, 2025:
Officials from the office of the United States Trade Representative held discussions in India on various aspects of the trade deal and decided to intensify efforts.
Sep 22, 2025:
Goyal visited New York for trade talks, accompanied by Agrawal.
Oct 15-17, 2025:
The Indian team was in Washington for talks. By this time, six formal rounds of talks had been held.
Dec 10, 2025:
A delegation led by Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer was in New Delhi for two-day trade talks with his Indian counterpart Rajesh Agrawal.
Jan 12, 2026:
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said both sides were actively engaged to firm up a trade deal.
Jan 31, 2026:
When asked about the progress of the “father of all deals,” Goyal said India was working towards closing it with the US “quickly,” as good negotiations were happening.
Feb 2, 2026:
India and the US agreed on a trade deal under which Washington would bring down the reciprocal tariff on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 25 per cent, US President Donald Trump said after a phone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Brief History of India-US trade pact
During Trump’s first term as US president (2017–2021), India and the US discussed a mini-trade deal, but it did not materialise. The proposed deal was discussed in multiple rounds during July 2018 and September 2019, but no agreement was finalised due to differences on issues like agriculture, digital taxes, and tariffs. The subsequent Biden administration (January 2021–January 2025) did not pursue a free trade agreement.
