Commerce ministry reviews India-US trade with exporters
The commerce ministry has asked industry and exporters to share their concerns regarding access to the US market so that the issues can be taken up with their American counterparts, an official said on Tuesday.
The industry official said that some exporters urged the ministry to try to conclude the trade pact with the US at the earliest to reduce the uncertainties on the tariff front.
The meeting was chaired by Additional Secretary in the ministry Darpan Jain. He is also the country’s chief negotiator for the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
The deliberation is important as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit the US in late September to attend the G-20 Trade Ministerial in Milwaukee and hold bilateral talks with USTR Jamieson Greer. The two-day ministerial will begin on September 30.
Goyal is also likely to lead a business delegation to Chicago next month after the G20 trade ministerial.
According to an exporter, order books from the US are good, but their order volume has reduced.
Due to the prevailing tariff uncertainties, US buyers are not placing big orders, neither they are giving long-term orders, the exporter said and added that American buyers are diversifying their sources of imports, the official said.
Further, the industry flagged concerns over safeguard measures imposed by the US on quartz surface products and urged the commerce ministry to take up the matter with American authorities.
Representatives of export promotion councils shared export data with the ministry and discussed the performance of their respective sectors.
The meeting was intended to discuss recent trade trends, the overall sector-wise performance of India-US trade, and the recent developments in bilateral trade.
The sectors which were represented at the meeting include pharmaceuticals, engineering, textiles, agriculture, chemicals, marine products, leather, automobiles, auto components, handicrafts, and plastics.
Industry chambers CII, FICCI, Assocham and apex exporters body FIEO also participated in the deliberations.
India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement. In February, both sides announced the finalisation of the framework for the first phase of the pact, but changes in the US tariff landscape have led to further negotiations between the two countries on the agreement.
Recently, Goyal has stated that the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement between India and the US will come into operation as soon as the United States is able to ensure that India gets a comparative advantage over its competitors.
The US has imposed an additional 10 per cent tariff on a number of countries, including India, from July 24.
Countries, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, are major competitors of India in the US market. Tariff advantage vis-a-vis these nations will give price competitiveness to Indian goods in the American market.
India’s exports to the US grew marginally to USD 87.31 billion in 2025-26 from USD 86.51 billion in the previous fiscal. Imports, on the other hand, rose by 17.16 per cent to USD 53.45 billion in the last fiscal year from USD 45.62 billion in 2024-25.
Total trade was up by 6.53 per cent to USD 140.76 billion in 2025-26 from USD 132.2 billion in 2024-25. India had a trade surplus of USD 33.9 billion in the last fiscal year, down from USD 40.9 billion in 2024-25.
During April-July 2026-27, India’s exports to the US rose 3 per cent to USD 34.5 billion, while imports grew 22.42 per cent to USD 22.12 billion.
India’s exports to the US include electrical machinery and telecom instruments (including smartphones), generic medicines, diamonds, industrial boilers, and cotton textiles. Imports include crude petroleum, liquefied natural gas, coal, precious stones, electronics, and aerospace equipment.
