Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
03-12-2025
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI: India expects to secure a trade deal with the United States before the end of this year as most issues have been resolved, New Delhi’s trade secretary said on Friday.
The US imposed tariffs of up to 50% on imports from India starting in late August even as negotiations between the two countries continued.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said that talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been going well. Trump’s administration has pressured India to reduce oil purchases from Russia and to bring down tariffs including across sensitive sectors like agriculture.
“What needs to come first is the framework trade deal, which is able to address the reciprocal tariffs,” India’s trade secretary Rajesh Agrawal told industry leaders at an event of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
“I think all I can say that we are close, we have tried to iron out most of the issues,” said Agrawal, adding that any remaining issues can be addressed at a “political level”.
“We are very optimistic and very hopeful that we should find a solution within this calendar year,” he said.
India’s trade deficit widened to a record high of $41.68 billion in October, driven by higher imports of gold and a decline in exports to the US.
Agrawal said the deficit was not in “worrying zone”.
Meanwhile, India’s Russian oil imports are set to hit their lowest in at least three years in December, down from multi-month highs in November, as refiners turned to alternatives to avoid breaching Western sanctions, trade and refining sources said.
Britain, the European Union and the United States have tightened sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine, with Washington’s latest measures targeting top Russian producers Rosneft, opens new tab and Lukoil, opens new tab.
Buyers of Russian oil had until November 21 to wind down dealings with the two firms.
Separately, the EU has set a January 21 deadline after which it will decline fuel from refineries that handled Russian crude within 60 days of the bill of lading.
India’s merchandise trade deficit widened to a record high of $41.68 billion in October, due to a rise in gold imports and a fall in US-bound exports during the second month of steep US tariffs on Indian goods, government data showed on Monday.
The trade deficit had widened to a 13-month high of $32.15 billion in September. In August 2024, the deficit stood at $35.62 billion, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India.
Economists had expected the October trade deficit to be $28.8 billion, according to a Media poll, compared to $32.15 billion in the previous month.
US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed steep tariffs of up to 50% on Indian shipments at the end of August. October is the second full month when the tariffs remained in place, even as New Delhi and Washington continue the negotiations.
Exports to the US fell nearly 9% year-on-year last month to $6.31 billion from $6.91 billion a year ago, and increased from $5.47 billion in September, as tariffs hit shipments of goods such as textiles, shrimp, and gems and jewelry, data released by the Commerce Ministry showed.
Overall merchandise exports fell to $34.38 billion last month from $36.38 billion in September, while imports climbed to $76.06 billion from $68.53 billion.
