{"id":2367,"date":"2026-10-02T08:30:44","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T08:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/02\/us-trade-representative-india-deal-not-imminent\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T08:30:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T08:30:44","slug":"us-trade-representative-india-deal-not-imminent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/02\/us-trade-representative-india-deal-not-imminent\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Trade Representative Says India Deal Not Imminent After Modi\u2011Trump Call"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters on Thursday that a comprehensive trade agreement with India is not expected in the near term. Responding to a query from Indian news agency ANI, Greer said, \u201cI don\u2019t think there is something imminent,\u201d and added that the two sides have \u201cidentified the universe of items that are sticking points.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Recent diplomatic exchanges<\/h2>\n<p>The remarks came a day after President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra\u202fModi spoke on the phone. Greer characterized the conversation as \u201cvery constructive,\u201d and noted that he had also met with Indian Commerce Minister Piyush\u202fGoyal, who was in the United States for bilateral talks and to attend the G20 trade ministers meeting in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<p>Goyal posted on social media that the discussions with Greer were focused on \u201cearly conclusion of a mutually beneficial interim agreement under the India\u2011US Bilateral Trade Agreement.\u201d The Indian minister\u2019s optimism contrasted with Greer\u2019s more cautious assessment.<\/p>\n<h2>Key points of friction<\/h2>\n<p>Analysts highlighted that the remaining gaps revolve around two primary issues. For Washington, India\u2019s continued imports of Russian oil remain a major source of tension. The United States argues that the purchases fund Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, and it has warned that New\u202fDelhi could face tariffs of up to 100\u202fpercent if the buying continues.<\/p>\n<p>For New\u202fDelhi, the priority is to safeguard politically sensitive segments of its agricultural sector and to retain preferential tariff treatment that gives Indian exporters an advantage over competitors. Ronak\u202fD.\u202fDesai, a visiting fellow at Stanford\u2019s Hoover Institution, told CNBC that \u201cGoyal is counting the issues already resolved, and Greer is counting the ones that remain,\u201d adding that the final issues in any trade deal are often the hardest to settle.<\/p>\n<p>India\u2019s reliance on Russian oil has risen amid the war in Iran, which has threatened its energy security. While the United States views the purchases as a direct financial link to Moscow\u2019s war effort, Indian officials have maintained that securing energy supplies is the sole driver of the policy.<\/p>\n<h2>Tariff history and current barriers<\/h2>\n<p>In August of the previous year, the United States imposed a punitive 25\u202fpercent tariff on Indian imports as a response to the Russian oil purchases, subsequently raising duties on a broader set of Indian goods to 50\u202fpercent. In February, the duties were reduced to 18\u202fpercent after President Trump claimed that India had agreed to halt Russian oil purchases and to increase imports from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela.<\/p>\n<p>India disputed Trump\u2019s characterization, emphasizing that its energy strategy is dictated by the need to ensure reliable supplies amid global constraints. Since the start of the year, both the United States and Venezuela have become more prominent sources in India\u2019s energy basket, but the ongoing Iran conflict has limited India\u2019s ability to fully shift away from Russian barrels.<\/p>\n<p>Arpit\u202fChaturvedi, South Asia advisor at strategic advisory firm Teneo, told CNBC that \u201cwe may also be reaching the limits of trade complementarities between the two countries under current circumstances.\u201d He added that neither side appears ready to accommodate the other\u2019s core demands, nor are they in a position to simply \u201cagree to disagree and conclude the deal around those differences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the oil dispute, Indian exports to the United States currently face a 10\u202fpercent tariff that was applied after the U.S. Trade Representative\u2019s office concluded an investigation into forced\u2011labor practices in 60 countries. The Indian government says that a substantial share of its exports\u2014such as generic pharmaceuticals and smartphones\u2014are exempt from that duty.<\/p>\n<h2>Outlook for the bilateral trade talks<\/h2>\n<p>Prime Minister Modi described his phone conversation with President Trump as \u201cproductive,\u201d noting that the leaders reviewed bilateral trade, defense, energy, critical technologies, and ongoing efforts to advance global peace and security. Despite the positive tone of the call, Greer\u2019s comments suggest that substantive progress on the broader trade framework remains elusive.<\/p>\n<p>The pending issues\u2014particularly the United States\u2019 demand that India curtail Russian oil purchases and India\u2019s request for preferential tariff treatment for its agricultural and manufacturing sectors\u2014continue to dominate the negotiation table. As both sides navigate domestic political pressures and geopolitical constraints, the timeline for an interim or final agreement remains uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>Stakeholders on both sides will be watching upcoming meetings, including the G20 trade ministers summit in Milwaukee, for any signs of movement. Until the sticking points are resolved, the prospect of a comprehensive India\u2011U.S. trade pact appears distant.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said a bilateral trade pact with India is not imminent, even after a constructive phone call between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[220,2558,219,2589,2588],"class_list":["post-2367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-donald-trump","tag-jamieson-greer","tag-narendra-modi","tag-trade-negotiations","tag-us-india-trade","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}