India-US Trade Deal Nears Finish Line: Washington Assures New Delhi of Tariff Edge Over Rivals

November 14, 2026

NEW DELHI: The long-pending India-US trade agreement is on the verge of being finalised as Washington has assured New Delhi about a comparative tariff advantage on Indian products. But it will depend on what kind of final tariff framework is arrived at.

“US have assured US that India will have a tariff advantage over others. But we have to see what kind of framework has been arrived at,” a senior government official said.

India and the US have been in talks to finalise the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA). New Delhi hopes to finalise the first tranche by the end of this financial year.

But services will not be covered in the first tranche. Services will be included in the second tranche which will be part of the Bilateral Trade Agreement.

The final deal is expected to be a legal text with annexures and a separate customs chapter.

India-US Trade Deal Nears Completion

India and the US have been in talks to arrive at a trade agreement since 2025. New Delhi has been pushing towards a favourable tariff framework for India in the American market, while ensuring that Indian interests are looked after.

However, the talks took a long time to reach an agreement.

Most issues have been resolved and the two countries are now in the final stages of the talks, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday.

“We are certainly in the last stages of our talks. It may not be a great secret that we’re in the last stages,” he said during an interactive session at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

“Most issues have been addressed. What is there are mostly issues of concern on the US side rather than concerns on our side.”

“We hope to close this deal. Because at this time, we’re all very impatient,” he said.

India Hopes To Get Comparative Advantage On Products

India has been pushing to get a favourable trade deal with the US so that exporters can have a better position in the American market over other economies. Getting a comparative advantage in tariffs is one of the main issues being discussed currently.

“Our focus is to have a favourable and fair agreement where we get a comparative advantage over similar economies,” said Jaishankar.

However, the talks could not be finalised quickly as they had to look at each individual tariff line.

“We’ve come to almost the end of our talks. We’ve put in a lot of effort and we hope to finalise this soon,” he added.

The final tariff framework and the outstanding issues will decide how soon the two countries can finalise the deal.