India, US to begin three-day trade talks from 10 December: Report

India and the United States will begin a three-day round of discussions on the first phase of their proposed bilateral trade agreement from 10 December, sources said on Friday. The meetings, which will run until 12 December, come as both sides push to finalise the initial tranche of the pact this year.

One of the sources said, “The three-day talks will start on December 10. It will conclude on December 12, and it is not a formal round of talks.”

The US delegation will be led by Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Rick Switzer. This will be the second visit by American officials since Washington imposed a 25 per cent tariff and an additional 25 per cent penalty on Indian goods entering the US market following India’s purchase of Russian crude oil.

US officials last visited India on 16 September. On 22 September, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal travelled to the US for trade discussions, after an earlier visit to Washington in May.

While Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch is the chief negotiator for the American side, the Indian team is led by Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce Darpan Jain.

The talks gain significance after Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal recently said India is hopeful of reaching a framework trade deal with the US this year to address tariff concerns faced by Indian exporters. He noted that while a full Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) will take time, negotiations on a tariff-related framework agreement are continuing.

India and the US are holding two parallel discussions — one on a framework deal to address tariffs and another on a comprehensive trade pact. In February, leaders of both countries directed officials to negotiate an agreement, with the aim of completing the first tranche by the autumn of 2025. Six rounds of talks have been held so far. The agreement aims to more than double bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion.

The US remained India’s largest trading partner for the fourth year in a row in 2024-25, with bilateral trade worth USD 131.84 billion, including USD 86.5 billion in exports. The US accounts for around 18 per cent of India’s total goods exports, 6.22 per cent of its imports, and 10.73 per cent of its overall merchandise trade.

Exporters say the agreement is crucial as India’s merchandise exports to the US declined for the second straight month in October, falling 8.58 per cent to USD 6.3 billion amid the higher tariffs.