India and the US are inching closer towards a trade deal and Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal on Monday said that the two countries are working on a package to address reciprocal tariffs which is near closure.
“The first tranche of the bilateral trade deal will address the reciprocal tariffs,” he told reporters on Monday, adding that it would happen sooner than later, but declined to provide a deadline for it. The trade deal would have two parts, including the more immediate package on reciprocal tariffs, while the second would be the overall trade agreement.
Sources further said that the trade deal on reciprocal tariffs would address the full 50% tariffs on India by the US, including the 25% penal tariffs for purchase of Russian crude oil. For the US, it would address market access for goods, they further elaborated.
India and the US have been engaged on the BTA over the last few months and officials indicated that further rounds of negotiations may not be needed. A team led by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal visited the US last month to take forward the stalled negotiations.
Meanwhile, India’s merchandise exports to the US declined in October 2025 to $6.31 billion from $5.47 billion in September 2025 and $6.9 billion in October 2024. Cumulative merchandise exports to the US stood at $52.12 billion between April and October, rising by 10.15% from $47.32 billion a year ago.
“India’s exports to the US have held ground and overall exports remains in the positive domain but has fallen in the month of October 2025 on a year-on-year basis,” noted Agrawal, while pointing out that it was higher than September 2025 levels. Major sectors driving export growth to the US include electronic goods, engineering products, drugs and pharmaceuticals, chemicals and textiles.
The US is India’s largest export market and India remains hopeful that exports will pick up further in November.
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday also announced the first structured contract of US LPG for the Indian market. “Indian PSU oil companies have successfully concluded a one-year deal for imports of around 2.2 MTPA LPG, close to 10% of our annual imports – for the contract year 2026, to be sourced from the US Gulf Coast,” he said on X.
However, the commerce secretary noted that this had been in the works for a long time and is not part of the trade negotiation package.
