U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and India is nearly complete.
The deal aims to secure better tariff access for Indian exporters and increase cooperation in manufacturing, investment, and technology. A finalized pact would signal a significant shift in economic ties between the two democratic powers.
Speaking at the IX US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., Gor said that the negotiations are in the final stretch. He said the agreement is in the last one or two percent [1].
Gor said the teams are now working on the remaining legal details to finalize the agreement [2]. These discussions follow approximately 18 months of talks [3].
However, the Indian government has framed the progress differently. Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India will sign only if the deal secures better tariff access and a competitive advantage for Indian exporters [4]. Other reports indicate that the two nations have discussed pathways to an interim trade deal, suggesting the final comprehensive agreement may not yet be concluded [5].
Both governments are pursuing the pact to strengthen bilateral trade and secure strategic supply chains. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi has been involved in facilitating these efforts [6].
“"It's in the last 1 or 2 percent."”
The discrepancy between the U.S. envoy's optimism and India's cautious focus on 'interim' pathways suggests a gap in expectations regarding the finality of the terms. While the U.S. views the deal as nearly finished, India is maintaining leverage to ensure specific tariff concessions are met before signing, indicating that the 'final 2%' may involve high-stakes economic trade-offs.
