India US Trade Deal: First Phase Finalised, Signing Nears

India's trade secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Thursday that the first phase of a trade deal with the United States has been finalised and is now in legal drafting.

Agrawal told a media briefing on trade data that talks with Washington were moving in the right direction. He said India was seeking preferential market access and greater tariff stability under the proposed agreement, and that New Delhi expected to conclude and sign the deal at the earliest possible time.

In New Delhi the same day, US Ambassador Sergio Gor told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum that most major issues were already resolved and only limited talks on remaining details continued. Gor said the broad framework was done, and that negotiators had moved to product-specific and tariff-level discussions involving US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

A signing window opens before the Rubio visit

The timing matters. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits India and Uzbekistan from October 17 to 22, with stops planned in Mumbai and Jamnagar and a heavy focus on energy cooperation, commercial investment and trade. A first-phase deal in legal drafting before that visit gives both governments something concrete to point to when Rubio sits down with Indian leaders and business executives.

Gor called India a trusted strategic partner and pointed to expanding cooperation in artificial intelligence, clean energy and civil nuclear power, along with investment in India by US technology firms including Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Micron.

What is still not settled

No tariff lines, sector lists or signing date were announced on Thursday. Ajay Srivastava of the Global Trade Research Initiative, quoted by Reuters, cautioned that Washington could still use the threat of duties linked to India's Russian oil purchases to press New Delhi toward an unequal deal, even as a US decision to buy Russian diesel raised hopes that India would avoid those tariffs.

Relations have had a rough year. Reuters noted the friction over President Donald Trump's repeated claim that he brokered an India-Pakistan ceasefire, and over a US military attack on a ship off Oman that killed three Indian seafarers. A signed first phase would not end those disputes, but it would give exporters on both sides the tariff stability Agrawal said India is asking for.