Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday held a meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and discussed the next steps in the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) negotiations.
The two, who met on the sidelines of the 14th ministerial conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organisation at Yaounde, Cameroon, also deliberated upon the issues related to the WTO’s meeting. The four-day meet started on March 26.
“Had a very productive discussion with @USTradeRep Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the WTO Ministerial Conference. Exchanged views on the #WTOMC14 agenda, next steps in the India-US BTA negotiations and explored ways to further deepen our economic cooperation and bilateral trade ties,” Goyal said in a social media post.
The two countries last month announced that they have finalised a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. It has not yet been signed. India and the US announced a trade deal on February 2. A joint statement for the same was released on February 7.
According to the framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent. However, the tariff architecture in the US has changed following its Supreme Court ruling against President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. After that, the US President imposed 10 per cent tariffs on all countries for 150 days from February 24.
In view of these changes, a meeting of the chief negotiators of India and the US has been postponed. They were scheduled to meet last month to finalise the legal text of the pact, which was expected to be signed this month. An official has earlier stated that the interim trade agreement between India and the US will be signed once the new global tariff architecture of America is in place.
Meets Chinese commerce minister, discusses trade
Goyal also held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao and discussed trade-related issues. The bilateral meeting was held on the sidelines of the 14th ministerial conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon.
“Met Mr Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce of China, on the sidelines of the #WTOMC14. Exchanged views on the MC-14 agenda and discussed bilateral trade matters,” Goyal said in a social media post.
The meeting is important as India's trade deficit with China crossed USD 100 billion during the 11-month period of this fiscal year. During April-February 2025-26, the country's exports to China increased 37.66 per cent to USD 17.54 billion, while imports rose 15.21 per cent to USD 119.55 billion. Trade deficit has widened to USD 102.01 billion from USD 91.03 billion in April-February 2024-25.
Also read: India got best trade deal with US among competing nations: Goyal
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