India-US Trade Deal Stays Speculative Amid Intense Negotiations

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By TRH News Desk

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal dismissed reports of a deadlock in India-US trade negotiations, even as both sides continue to bargain over tariffs, market access, and agriculture.

New Delhi, July 13, 2026 — US President Donald Trump seems keen to ink a trade deal with India for his big talking point for the Mid Term elections in November. India remains cautious of flip-flop on tariffs by Washington. With intense negotiations underway, the two nations are holding on to their bargain position with no clear breakthrough in the sight.

A month after US ambassador in New Delhi Sergio Gor claimed that “there is an agreement on 99 per cent” on the deal, Union Minister for Commerce Piyush Goyal rebutted a Reuters report on Monday that claimed that there’s a stalemate situation in the ongoing negotiations.

Goyal tagged the report of Reuters to dub it “fake.” “This news is completely false, baseless and misleading. I had fantastic meetings with USTR Jamieson Greer, when he visited Delhi in June. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to an agreement that is balanced, commercially meaningful, and delivers tangible benefits for businesses, farmers, workers, and consumers in both countries,” stated Goyal in a post on X. Our teams remain fully engaged in achieving this objective, he added.

The report claimed that India is holding on to signing the deal on the back of a string of deals signed with other nations. It also stated that India would seek a favourable term in the trade deal with the US.

Recently, Goyal had remarked that India would seek a favourable tariff regime which is advantageous in comparison to the South East Asian nations. Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other nations are known to have better scale to export their goods to the US market than India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government also faces a tough situation in selling the trade deal to the domestic audience. This is for the reason that US Secretary of the State Marco Rubio during his New Delhi visit reiterated claims that “India has committed to buying $500 billion worth of American goods in five years.” No such claims have been made by the India government yet.

The US is keen to access the Indian markets for the agricultural produces. This is a big red flag in the Indian politics. Agriculture in India remains a politically sensitive issue.

Modi during his visit to France had a brief meeting with Trump. He’s believed to have discussed the issues at the core of negotiations in the trade deal with Trump.

While Goyal has refuted the claims of a stalemate in the negotiations, the delay, per observers, signals unresolved issued between the two nations.