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Informist, Saturday, Mar. 7, 2026

 

--Minister Goyal: India got best trade deal with US among competitor nations 

--CONTEXT: Comments by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal at Raisina Dialogue 

--Minister Goyal: US, India share very powerful partnership 

--Minister Goyal: US-India relationship strong, multi-dimensional 

 

NEW DELHI – India got the best trade deal with the US compared with New Delhi's competing countries such as Bangladesh and Southeast Asian nations, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said Saturday. The minister said the US and India have the "best of relations" and there can be some misunderstandings "even within families".

 

"We got the best deal amongst all the nations with whom we compete, Pakistan, Bangladesh, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region," Goyal said at the Raisina Dialogue 2026. "We got the best deal among the competitors, with whom we have to compete. The US-India relationship is strong, it is multidimensional. It's not only about trade."

 

The US and India have finalised the first tranche of a trade deal, even as the final agreement is yet to been signed. As part of the trade deal, the US has lowered reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 25% and also scrapped the 25% penal tariff levied on India for buying crude oil from Russia. The US had imposed an overall 50% tariff on Indian goods in August. India has offered to buy $500 billion worth of goods from Washington over the next five years under the trade deal.

 

Both countries were set to negotiate a broader bilateral trade agreement, but negotiations have been paused after the US Supreme Court struck down most of the tariffs imposed by Trump, noting that the president had exceeded his powers by imposing import duties on most of the country's trade partners. After the court's decision, Trump imposed a baseline 10% tariff on all US imports for 150 days, which came into effect on Feb. 24. Trump also threatened to raise the baseline tariff to 15%, but is yet to sign an executive order to implement the higher rate.

 

"They (the US) are the world's largest economy, a $30-trillion economy. Nobody can wish them away," Goyal said. "There is a huge technology overlay on it (the India-US relationship), there is a huge critical minerals partnership, there's a defence partnership. So, for us, there's a huge amount of investments that flows into India from the United States."

 

The US is India's largest export destination. The country exported goods worth $86.51 billion to the US in 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) and imported goods worth $45.69 billion. In Apr-Jan, India's trade surplus with the US moderated slightly to $28.53 billion from $29.88 billion in the same period a year ago. US Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, Thursday said India and the US are "almost at the finish line" of signing the bilateral trade agreement.  End

 

US$1 = INR 91.74

 

Reported by Shubham Rana

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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