US-India Trade Talks May Have Reached a Plateau, Trade Balance Favours India: Sitharaman

Speaking at the Munich Leaders Meeting 2026, Sitharaman said the proposed trade agreement had involved intense negotiations between the two countries and that both sides may now be approaching the limits of what they can offer.

She said there was still scope to examine whether additional areas of compromise could be identified, but acknowledged that the negotiations had reached a challenging stage.

According to the Finance Minister, the United States is seeking to narrow its trade deficit with India, while the present balance of trade remains favourable to India. She said Washington's position was linked to concerns about trade-related losses it believes have accumulated over several years.

The negotiations are being conducted under the framework for an interim trade agreement announced by India and the US in February 2026. Both countries had agreed to work towards concluding the interim arrangement while continuing discussions on a wider bilateral trade agreement.

Sitharaman also pointed to India's recently negotiated trade agreement with the European Union as an illustration of the country's approach to market access and tariff negotiations.

She described the India-EU pact as exceptionally significant, noting that it would encompass economies representing around two billion people and roughly a quarter of global GDP. Referring to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's description of the agreement as the "mother of all deals", Sitharaman said the phrase was appropriate given its scale.

Under the agreement, India has opened 92.5 per cent of its tariff lines, accounting for about 97 per cent of trade value, while the EU has offered access covering approximately 99 per cent of trade value and nearly 97 per cent of tariff lines.

Sitharaman said India's commitments on market access were determined after considering the strengths and complementarities of both economies, while ensuring that greater market opening would not undermine the competitiveness of Indian industries.