Indian delegation to visit US next week to finalise trade deal’s legal framework

An Indian delegation will visit the United States next week to finalise the legal framework for the India-US trade deal, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said.

“There have been virtual engagements going on and next week, the chief negotiator will be leading a delegation to the US to finalise the legal framework towards the legal agreement that work will carry on next week in Washington,” Agrawal said on Monday.

Agrawal said that the chief negotiator, Darpan Jain, a joint secretary in the commerce ministry, will lead the delegation.

As for the timeline, Agrawal said the signing is expected before the end of March but suggested that it could be extended.

“I think drafting a legal agreement to the satisfaction of both sides also sometimes may take time, but we are hopeful the teams are working on it, we should look at March as the timeline in which we should make it operational,” Agrawal further said.

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Previously, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had said that the final agreement would be signed by mid-March.

Previously, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had said that the final agreement would be signed by mid-March.

On the US-India trade agreement, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal says, "There have been virtual engagements going on (with the US) and next week, the chief negotiator will be leading a delegation to the US to finalise the legal framework towards the legal agreement that work… https://t.co/L8t1soLsSj

— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2026

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump had announced that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to a trade deal. The two sides later issued a joint statement and the White House published a fact sheet about tariffs and trade commitments.

Trump said he would reduce tariffs on India from 50 per cent to 18 per cent in exchange of India reducing tariffs on US goods to 0 per cent and agreeing to no longer buy Russian oil. He further said that India would additional US goods worth $500 billion.

Agrawal said that formalities to lower tariffs to 18 per cent should be done this week.

“The joint statement lays down the contours of the deal. Now the contours of the deal has to be translated into a legal agreement, which will be signed between the two sides,” Agrawal further said.

Without going into the specifics, Agrawal said that the India-US trade deal would safeguard sensitive sectors like agriculture and dairy and referred to other trade agreements like those with the United Kingdom and European Union (EU) that excluded these sectors.

“In US also, all the key sensitive sectors have been protected. Wherever there is little sensitivity where we import also, I think we have used a TRQ [Tariff Rate Quota] mechanism to ensure that any market access is also limited in nature, and it does not impact our farmers and the ecosystem in any which way,” said Agrawal.