Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said India and the US have finalised most elements of the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, and negotiations are now focused on a few minor issues, “commas and full stops”. He said that the US team is in New Delhi to hold talks on finalising the first phase of Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The talks will take place in New Delhi from June 2-4. India’s chief negotiator is Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, while the US team is led by its chief negotiator, Brendan Lynch. On February 3, both sides announced the framework for the first phase of the BTA. The two sides are proposed to finalise the details of the interim agreement and take forward the negotiations under the broader BTA on multiple areas, such as market access, non-tariff measures, customs and trade facilitation and investment promotion. India and the US issued a joint statement on February 7, finalising the framework of the first phase of the BTA, also referred to as an interim trade agreement. Both sides will now have to finalise the legal text for the deal. The framework reaffirmed the countries’ commitment to the broader India-US BTA negotiations. The US was the second-largest trading partner of India in 2025-26.
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