Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India and the United States are within touching distance of the first phase of a bilateral trade agreement — and racing a calendar. Negotiators are reported to be at the “last 1%” of the legal text, with a temporary US tariff arrangement, a 10% additional levy over standard rates, set to expire on July 24. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has held the same line throughout: India does not negotiate to a deadline, though it would welcome an early, well-judged deal. The gap now is narrow, but it sits on the questions that matter most to exporters.
A first phase would set the terms for the goods that drive India’s export growth — textiles and garments, engineering products, gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals and electronics — and reporting points to talks ranging across market access, digital trade and non-tariff barriers. India’s aim is not merely a deal but a competitive one: terms at least as good as those won by rival Asian exporters, so Indian goods do not enter the American market at a disadvantage to Vietnam or the wider region. That is the substance behind the last stubborn percentage point.
Terms over timing: With a 10% additional US tariff window closing on July 24, India is holding out for lasting, competitive access on textiles, engineering goods, gems, pharma and electronics.
In a trade talk the last one per cent is where the real money sits. Getting it right is worth more than getting it fast.
At a Glance
• Stage: first-phase BTA reported at the “last 1%” of legal text
• Deadline: temporary US tariff (10% over standard rates) set to expire July 24
• Posture: Goyal — India does not negotiate to a calendar; open to an early deal
• Hedge: the just-live India–UK CETA and a wider EU/Gulf pipeline
India negotiates from an unusually strong position, and that is the point. It is a fast-growing major economy with a widening set of alternatives: the India–UK free-trade agreement went live only this month, and talks with the European Union and others are advancing. The more markets India can sell into on preferential terms, the less any single deadline can dictate the outcome — and the more it can insist on terms that genuinely widen access rather than settle for a headline.
The constructive read is that patience here is a form of strength, not delay. The way forward is to close on terms that lower the tariff wall durably, then convert that access into orders through competitive logistics, quality certification and trade finance so small exporters can actually use it. Whether the text is signed this week or shortly after, the diversified deal pipeline India has built means the story is one of a country choosing its terms — not one waiting anxiously on a clock.
