New Delhi, October 5, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India-US trade negotiations are continuing but may have reached a point where further concessions from either side are becoming difficult, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, noting that the current bilateral trade balance favours India.
Speaking at the Munich Leaders Meeting 2026, Sitharaman said the proposed trade agreement had involved intensive negotiations and indicated that both sides may now be close to the limits of what they are willing to offer.
“The negotiations are still ongoing although we would like to believe both sides have reached a plateau beyond which giving or taking might be very, very difficult,” she said.
Sitharaman said India and the US could nevertheless examine whether there was further scope for negotiations.
She noted that the trade balance currently favoured India, while the US was seeking to narrow its trade deficit. According to the minister, the American position reflected concerns over what Washington considers accumulated losses in its trade relationship with India.
The negotiations are taking place under the framework for an interim trade agreement announced by the two countries in February 2026. India and the US had agreed to work towards concluding the interim pact while continuing discussions on a broader bilateral trade agreement.
Sitharaman also cited India’s trade agreement with the European Union as an example of how New Delhi approaches market-access negotiations.
Describing the EU pact as a major agreement, she said it would cover economies representing about two billion people and approximately a quarter of global GDP. Referring to a phrase used by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Sitharaman said “the mother of all deals” was an apt description.
Under the agreement, India has opened 92.5 per cent of its tariff lines and around 97 per cent of trade value, while the EU has opened about 99 per cent of trade value and nearly 97 per cent of tariff lines, she said.
Sitharaman said India’s market-access commitments had been selected after considering the complementarity of the two economies and ensuring that domestic competitiveness was not adversely affected.
FOLLOW NOW
