‘No more scope for discussions on India-US trade deal’:Sitharaman drops hint ‘both sides may need to compromise a bit to reach agreement’

Amid the rising uncertainty over India-US trade deal discussions not getting over, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dropped a hint on Monday, 5 October, 2026, that there was no further scope for discussions between the two nations as she said, “Negotiations on the India-US trade agreement have reached a ‘plateau’ where further concessions from either side could be difficult.” According to ANI, Sitharaman indicated that the remaining discussions may hinge on finding limited room for compromise. The agreement negotiations are still ongoing, although we’d like to believe that both the sides have reached a plateau beyond which giving or taking might be very, very difficult. But maybe if there are rooms to operate from, both sides would do it. -Sitharaman said at the Munich Leaders Meeting Hard and very rigorously negotiated trade deal She said the agreement was still being “hard and very rigorously negotiated”, while highlighting the trade imbalance as a key feature of India-US economic relations. India-US trade in India’s favour: But what is the predominant feature of the trade relations between India and the US? The trade balance is very much in our favor. -Sitharaman She added that the US would naturally want to reduce the imbalance, with Washington seeking to address what it sees as losses accumulated over the years. Sitharaman said the nature of global trade negotiations was also changing, with countries increasingly seeking to address trade imbalances through measures beyond conventional negotiations. The Munich Leaders Meeting is being held in the national capital. ‘No trade deal with US without preferential tariffs’: Piyush Goyal Earlier, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had said that India will announce the final details of its Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the United States only after Washington agrees to offer preferential tariff terms over India’s competitors. As soon as the US is able to give us the preferential rate in comparison to our competition, we will finalise the BTA and announce the final details. -Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal India-US trade deal negotiation history: In February 2026, India and the US had announced finalisation of the framework for the first phase of the pact, but changes in the tariff landscape in the US had led to further negotiations between the two countries on the pact. Currently, US levies 10% additional tariffs The US has imposed an additional 10% tariff on a number of countries, including India, from 24 July.