Indian team in U.S. to discuss tariffs, shutdown not “right time” for official negotiation on trade deal: Commerce Secretary

A team from India is currently in the U.S. to discuss issues relating to tariffs, according to Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal. However, due to the ongoing shutdown in the U.S. government, it is not “the right time” to hold the next official round of negotiations on a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), he said. 

Mr. Agrawal, currently still the Chief Negotiator for India on the BTA, further said that India would be “very happy” to increase its energy imports from the U.S.

The U.S. government is currently undergoing a ‘shutdown’ as it has not been able to enact the required funding legislation for the current financial year in that country. 

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“Our negotiating team is in the U.S. and is trying to see if we can have a win-win solution between the two sides that can address some of the tariff issues,” Mr. Agrawal said during a press briefing on Wednesday (October 15, 2025). “There is already a discussion going on and there is always a hope of arriving at a solution.”

“Regarding the formal rounds of negotiations, the US is currently in shutdown and their manpower strength is down and so this is not the right time to have a full fledged trade negotiation,” the Commerce Secretary said, in response to a query by The Hindu. 

However, he added that both sides are actively discussing how to find a solution to the current trade tensions between India and the U.S.

“As a country, we will be very happy to buy more energy from the U.S. subject to it being available at the right price,” he said. “There is a bilateral commitment and discussions wherein we have indicated very positively that India would like to diversify its portfolio as far as energy imports are concerned. 

September is the first full month where Indian imports into the US faced 50% tariffs, with half of these imposed as a ‘penalty’ on India for importing crude oil from Russia. 

This kind of diversification was the “best strategy” for a big oil buyer like India, Mr. Agrawal said. 

The Commerce Secretary also said that negotiations on the free trade agreement with the European Union were “progressing very well”. 

“We are in the last leg of negotiations,” he said. “The last was the most arduous leg because the toughest things are decided at the end. We are in that stage of negotiations. The last round saw real progress. We are very hopeful that our teams will be interacting with each other, working on the differences.” 

Some officials of the Indian team have stayed back in Brussels to carry forward the negotiations in rules of origin.

“That is one area where a lot of work needs to be done, so we have left the team there to see that substantial progress can be made on this.,” Mr. Agrawal said.