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Informist, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025

 

--Foreign min: Foreign secy discusses trade deal with US official Switzer

 

NEW DELHI – Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer, who is leading a team of US officials on a visit to New Delhi, held meetings with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal Wednesday. A discussion on the negotiations for a trade deal between the countries was common at both meetings.

 

"Discussions covered the strong India-US economic and technology partnership, ongoing trade negotiations, and opportunities to boost two-way trade and resilient supply chains," external affairs ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said after the meeting between Misri and Switzer. The commerce ministry said Agrawal and Switzer exchanged views on the negotiations for a mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement.

 

Switzer, who is in the capital till Friday, may also meet Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal late Wednesday evening. The meetings are significant as India and the US had set the aim of finalising the first tranche of the trade deal by the fall of 2025.

 

This is the second visit by a US team to New Delhi after Washington imposed 50% tariff on Indian goods in August. While Indian exporters expect the conclusion of a trade deal to result in a lowering of the tariff, Goyal has said many times his team will not negotiate under the pressure of a timeline.

 

The course of trade negotiations between India and the US has seen considerable ebb and flow over the past 10 months. The talks hit a wall in August over disagreements on the farm sector. The negotiations resumed in September, after which officials from both sides have visited the other country, but the commerce ministry has not termed any of the discussions during these visits as a formal negotiating round. On the contrary, it has specifically mentioned that none of the visits and discussions, including the current one, constitutes a formal round of negotiation.

 

The US was India's top export destination in the financial year 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), with $86.5 billion of goods exports. After the tariff levy in August, India's exports to the US fell the following two months, according to the latest available data.  End

 

US$1 = INR 89.96

 

Reported by Krity Ambey

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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