“Confident” US-India trade deal will be finalised in “coming weeks”: Ambassador Gor
Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce Annual Leadership Summit in Delhi, Ambassador Gor underlined the core economic vision guiding the negotiations and said: “President Trump’s goal is to facilitate bilateral trade that will create profitable opportunities for American businesses and workers. Our current interim trade agreement is on the table to be finalized in a way that will pave the way for prosperity for both countries.”
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The envoy detailed how the pending architecture of the agreement is designed to drastically transform trade corridors by reducing operational barriers and increasing investor confidence.
“We look forward to finalizing the details of a new bilateral trade agreement that will expand market access, reduce barriers and create greater certainty for businesses on both sides. If done right, this agreement will strengthen supply chains, catalyze new investment and promote sustainable inclusive growth, delivering tangible benefits to industries, workers and economies,” Gor said. he said.
Reflecting a high-speed diplomatic calendar aimed at pushing the agreement across the finish line, the Ambassador noted the rapid succession of high-level reciprocal state visits. “Last month, an Indian delegation visited Washington DC to help finalize the trade deal. Next month, a US delegation will also focus on the deal.”
While acknowledging the time already spent on ironing out complex trade mechanisms, Gor offered a historical benchmark that shows the current process is moving remarkably quickly, despite “almost 19 years” of ongoing negotiations for a trade deal between the EU and India.Also read: ‘Big things ahead’ in India-US nuclear energy cooperation, US Envoy says
“Negotiations have been going on for a year and a half, but to put it in perspective, we can say that it has taken the European Union almost 19 years. We are confident that this trade agreement will be completed in the coming weeks and months,” the ambassador said.
India-EU FTA signed in January 2026. The trade agreement, called the “mother of all agreements”, came after protracted negotiations that first began in 2007.
Confirming this positive assessment, an official American delegation is expected to travel to India next month and participate in critical bilateral trade talks, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal announced on Thursday.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the American Chamber of Commerce Annual Leadership Summit here, he emphasized the active momentum of the talks, effectively echoing the optimistic timelines outlined by the US envoy. The statement follows face-to-face meetings held by an Indian delegation in Washington DC last April, aimed at hammering out the finer points of an interim agreement and advancing deeper negotiations under the broader Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
This upcoming technical shift will be accompanied by a broader wave of high-level diplomatic engagement. When asked if BTA would travel with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the US chief negotiator’s upcoming visit, Goyal clarified that “he is not coming with him, but there are some plans for them to come next month.”
Providing a significant boost to this bilateral momentum, Rubio is scheduled to embark on a four-day official tour of India, starting May 23, to mark his inaugural visit to the country with the aim of reinforcing cooperation among key sectors such as trade, defense and energy.
The coming rounds follow a joint statement issued by India and the US on February 7, finalizing the basic framework of an interim trade agreement. However, the negotiating landscape changed dramatically following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down all reciprocal tariffs, effectively eliminating the essential diplomatic clout the Trump administration had used to negotiate trade concessions with global partners.
Faced with this unexpected institutional change, Washington had to quickly adapt its trade policy mechanisms. Following this legal setback, Washington backtracked by imposing a 10 percent surtax on all incoming goods under Article 122 of the Commercial Code for a period of 150 days, starting February 24 this year.
Simultaneously, U.S. authorities launched bilateral investigations under Section 301 of the Act and examined major exporters for excessive industrial capacities and domestic labor practices. Section 122 caps emergency tariffs at a 15 percent cap for a maximum of 150 days, while Section 301 gives Washington carte blanche to raise tariffs if an investigation finds that a trading partner’s policies actively harm American business interests.
It is precisely these challenges that the upcoming delegation visits aim to resolve, as New Delhi both formally submits its comprehensive responses to active federal investigations and consultative dialogues continue between the two global economies to secure a final agreement.
