India-US trade deal only if we get competitive edge: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 26, 2026 10:41 IST

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday minced no words, saying an India-US bilateral trade agreement would be signed only if Washington provides New Delhi with a competitive edge over countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and China. His remarks came a day after the latest round of ongoing trade talks between India and the US concluded.

Speaking at the India Global Forum in London, Goyal said the agreement could not be operationalised until a framework giving India a competitive advantage was finalised.

"And until the framework of getting that competitive advantage can be finalised, we cannot bring a US deal into force. That is broadly the discussion. I don't think I can be more transparent than that," he said.

Goyal said both sides had agreed on the broad contours of the deal on February 6, with India negotiating a reduction in tariffs from 50 per cent to 18 per cent, a move he said was centred on securing a competitive advantage.

"There is always some give and take," Goyal said, adding that the broad framework of the deal struck with the US earlier this year placed India in a better position than all South Asian and ASEAN countries barring Singapore.

"We had negotiated the deal based on bringing down the 50% tariff to 18%. The whole deal was centred around that competitive advantage that we got with 18% over our neighbours and competing countries... lower than ASEAN countries other than Singapore," he said.

He said the whole landscape of the trade negotiations changed after the US Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration's International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs.

"With the US Supreme Court striking down tariffs, and now with the 10%, which expires on July 24, we have to have some reason to be able to bring that agreement into force, which we have agreed upon," he said.

The temporary 10 per cent tariff imposed on imports into the US under Section 122 of the Trade Act is scheduled to expire on July 24.

The latest round of India-US trade talks concluded in New Delhi, while Washington is expected to complete its Section 301 investigation by next month and announce a new tariff framework, which could serve as an alternative to reciprocal tariffs.

Trade data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry showed that India’s export surplus with the US fell by more than 40% to 2.94 billion dollars in May this year, from 5.02 billion dollars in May 2025.

Data also showed that India’s trade surplus with the US has declined by more than 40% since negotiations began last year, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on 13 February 2025, with the drop visible across several categories beyond energy.

Goyal’s remarks underlined that while negotiations on the India-US trade deal have been completed, its signing remains tied to the US putting in place a tariff framework that restores India’s competitive advantage over rival manufacturing economies.

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