India and U.S. can only finalise ‘mini’ trade deal this year: Sources

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. File photo | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Any India-US trade deal this year would only be a “mini-deal”, according to a senior government official, who added that the two countries are still quite far from a comprehensive deal.  

This comes at a time when U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has said that a trade deal between India and the United States will materialise in the “not too distant future”.

“The two countries are still quite far from a comprehensive deal,” the senior government official told The Hindu. “But the commitment of the two leaders [Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump] is to have something to show by fall this year, so that’s the attempt.” 

Fall in the US is typically from September to November.

“First of all, any deal that will be announced this year will be in limited sectors,” the official explained. “Trade negotiations usually span multiple years. And when it comes to deals between huge economies like India and the U.S., matters become even more complicated. So, you’ll have a mini-deal.”

The Hindu has also learnt that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is also internally discussing what to do about the higher tariffs the Trump administration has levied on steel and aluminium. A stakeholders consultation meeting is likely, another official said.

Mr. Trump on May 31 announced via his Truth Social account that he would be raising import tariffs on steel and aluminium from the existing 25% to 50%, effective June 4.

Even before this hike, the Indian government had already informed the World Trade Organisation that it reserves the right to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US for the 25% rate on steel and aluminium imports that had been imposed since March 2025. 

“After this most recent hike [to 50%], the government is looking into what it can do, whether this can be taken up in the trade deal negotiations itself, or if it is separate,” the second official said.

Published - June 04, 2025 09:49 am IST