Goyal meets Lutnick, discusses trade and economic partnership

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said he has held a meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and discussed ways to expand trade relationship between the two countries.

“Hosted US Secretary of Commerce @HowardLutnick & @USAmbIndia Sergio Gor. Engaged in very fruitful discussions to expand our trade and economic partnership,” Goyal said in a social media post.

The meeting holds immense importance as both countries are looking to finalise the legal text for the first phase of a bilateral trade agreement.

Chief negotiators of both sides were scheduled to meet this week in Washington to finalise the legal text for the pact but it was postponed following the US Supreme Court order striking down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

After the court order, the US imposed 10 per cent tariffs on all the countries for 150 days with effect from February 24. Trump has announced to increase it to 15 per cent, but there is no official order on that yet.Goyal on Tuesday had said “as soon as” there is more clarity on the tariffs front in the US, India will resume trade talks with America.

In a major setback to Trump’s pivotal economic agenda in his second term, the US Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs imposed by Trump on nations around the world were illegal and that the president had exceeded his authority when he imposed the sweeping levies by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977.The US had imposed a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on India in August 2025. Later, an additional 25 per cent duty was imposed for buying Russian crude oil, taking the total tariffs on India to 50 per cent.

India and the US, earlier this month, agreed on a framework to finalise an interim trade deal, under which Washington will cut down the tariffs to 18 per cent. To sign and implement the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, the framework has to be converted into a legal document.

During 2021-25, the US was India’s largest trading partner in goods. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India’s total exports, 6.22 per cent of its imports, and 10.73 per cent of its bilateral trade.

In 2024-25, bilateral trade were $86.5 billion in exports and $45.3 billion in imports.