Sitharaman Says India-US Trade Talks Hit 'Plateau', Notes Balance Favours India

India and the US have come close to exhausting what each can offer in their trade negotiations, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, while maintaining that discussions on a bilateral deal are still on.

Addressing the Munich Leaders Meeting, she said the negotiations were being conducted "very rigorously". Both governments would like to believe the talks have levelled off, she said, beyond which "giving or taking might be very, very difficult". Should either side find room to operate within, however, it would be put to use.

Reflecting on what characterises trade between the two countries, Sitharaman said the balance is "very much in our favor". Washington would naturally try to narrow that gap, she said, and redress what it regards as losses accumulated over the years.

On whether India's Russian oil purchases had become a friction point in its talks with European partners, the minister said that, as of now, she was aware of no European counterpart to the "Lindsey Graham bill" that could shape negotiations with the European Union. The question was put to her during the session in Munich.

The two countries agreed on a framework for an interim trade agreement in February. Signing did not follow, as the US Supreme Court struck down the legal footing of the preferential tariff mechanism Washington had offered. Both sides are now working to conclude the interim bilateral trade agreement (BTA).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X that he had a "productive conversation" with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, September 30. According to Modi, the two leaders took stock of cooperation in trade, defence, energy and critical technologies, among other areas, and agreed to keep close contact so that the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership moves ahead. Regional and international developments, including efforts towards global peace and security, also figured in the discussion, he said.

Separately, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Milwaukee. Goyal said in a post on X on Thursday that the two had a productive exchange on concluding a mutually beneficial interim agreement early under the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement. They also compared notes on G20 discussions under the US chairship, he said.