India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told the India‑Netherlands Business Forum in The Hague that India and the United States have finished the bulk of the bilateral trade agreement talks, and are now fine‑tuning the remaining clauses. He added that the country has signed nine free‑trade agreements in the last four and a half years, underscoring the growing depth of India’s global trade ties.
The pact, first announced in February, covers tariff reductions, agricultural products, industrial goods, and regulatory barriers. A shift in U.S. tariff policy sparked a second round of negotiations, pushing the two sides to revisit several key issues.
Goyal’s remarks came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the agreement is “as close as you can be without having an executed agreement,” noting that a handful of items remain to be wrapped up. Rubio hinted that the leaders could sign the deal shortly thereafter.
Both nations have spent more than a year negotiating the framework, aiming to broaden market access amid lingering tariff uncertainties. The final phase of the agreement is expected to be signed in the next few weeks, after the remaining items are resolved.
The trade pact will be the largest bilateral agreement India has pursued since the 1990s, and its successful conclusion could shift the balance of global trade in the Indo‑Pacific region.