Deal with U.S. ‘very near’, teams are engaging virtually on pending issues: Commerce Secretary

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal once again said a preliminary trade deal on tariffs with the United States was “very close,” but added that he could not specify an exact date for when this would happen. He added that the two sides are currently in talks and the talks have never been interrupted.

“Talks with the US have never been interrupted,” Mr. Agrawal said at a news conference. “We got engaged. They came in December. Then, in the last week of December 2025, a virtual meeting also took place between the Secretary of Commerce and the US Trade Representative (USTR).”

A team of US negotiators, led by Acting USTR Rick Switzer, visited India to advance negotiations and met with Secretary of Commerce Piyush Goyal on December 10, 2025, and Mr. Agrawal on December 11, 2025.

“Negotiating teams are still talking virtually on pending issues,” he added. “It’s very close, but we can’t give a deadline. It will happen when both parties are ready.”

But Mr Agrawal also said in December that a tariff deal was “very close”.

The latest trade data released on Thursday, January 15, 2026, showed that India’s goods exports to the US increased from $6.89 in December 2024 to $7.01 billion in December 2025, a five-month high.

“We’re still on a positive trend at this point, that’s a positive thing we can take from the data,” Mr. Agrawal said. “Despite the high tariffs, it was still around $7 billion. This probably shows that we’re focusing on areas where tariffs are less, and in areas where there are high tariffs, our industry is showing resilience and holding on to supply chains.”