India-US trade pact first phase likely by mid-July

“We are fast moving towards closing all the open ends, and I think sometime by the middle of next month or so, we should be in a position to execute a very, very vibrant first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement,” Goyal told reporters in Visakhapatnam. He was in the city to address a national workshop on seafood exports. “It is only the first tranche of our bilateral trade agreement, which will give preferential access to India over our competitors,” he said.

The three-day talks, held in New Delhi from June 2-4, were led on the American side by assistant US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch and on the Indian side by additional secretary Darpan Jain.

The visit came days after US ambassador Sergio Gor said only “1%” of the proposed trade deal remained to be finalised and that Washington expected the agreement to be signed soon.