Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday (October 23, 2025) said he hoped for a trade deal with the U.S. to materialise in the “near future”. He added that the teams of both countries were in dialogue and that talks were “progressing”.

Mr. Goyal is in Berlin at the moment, following a short trip to Geneva to speak at the 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

“We are in dialogue with the United States of America,” Mr. Goyal told the media in Berlin. “Our teams are engaged. We recently had the Commerce Secretary visit the U.S. and he met with his counterparts. We continue to engage with them and talks are progressing. We hope to work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future.”

Path ahead

These statements come at a time when relations between India and the U.S., though currently overtly thawing, remain tense under the cloud of the 50% tariffs the U.S. has imposed on imports from India. 

U.S. President Donald Trump has recently asserted several times that India will cut its oil imports from Russia — the main reason behind the inflated tariffs on India. However, India has not officially confirmed this and has, in fact, said that it would secure its national and energy security however it saw best. 

At the same time, various Indian government officials have gone on the record to say India is keen to increase its energy imports from the U.S. 

Also read: No deal with U.S. ever final, India should secure its own interests: trade analyst

It remains to be seen when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Mr. Trump next as the dates of the next Quad Summit have not yet been finalised, and Mr. Modi has said he will attend the upcoming ASEAN summit only virtually. 

European deal

Separately, Mr. Goyal during his trip also held talks with various officials in Europe regarding the India-European Union free trade agreement negotiations.

“Had a productive engagement focused on the positive resolution of the outstanding issues with respect to the India-EU FTA with Mr. Maroš Šefčovič, EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, ahead of my Brussels visit starting next week,” Mr. Goyal said on X on Wednesday (October 22). 

“The shared commitment on both sides towards redefining the relationship is deeply encouraging,” he added.

Deeper engagement

On Thursday (October 23), the Minister posted that he had met Katherina Reiche, the German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy.

“Our discussions focused on deepening Indo-German ties in trade and investment, joint industrial and technological partnerships in green energy, new and emerging technologies, as well as defence,” Mr. Goyal said. “Talks also covered Germany’s commitment to finalising the India-EU FTA.”

During his time in Berlin, the Minister also met Levin Holle, Economic and Financial Policy Advisor at the Federal Chancellery and Germany’s G7 & G20 Sherpa. 

He also chaired a roundtable with CEOs and leaders of German Mittelstand companies at the Indian Embassy, who conveyed their “keenness to do business in India and expand existing investments”, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a release.

The Ministry added that Mr. Goyal is scheduled to meet Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Luxembourg and hold one-on-one discussions with CEOs of leading German companies, including Infineon Technologies, Schaeffler Group, Renk, HerrenknechtAG, Enertrag SE, and the Mercedes Benz Group.

The rupee slipped below the 87 per dollar level against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Wednesday (July 30, 2025) as rising crude oil prices and uncertainty over the India-U.S. trade agreement kept investor sentiments muted.

Forex traders said month-end dollar demand from importers and sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened on a negative note and touched an early low of 87.15 against the American currency, registering a fall of 24 paise over its previous close.

On Tuesday (July 29), the rupee declined to an over four-month low level and closed 21 paise weaker at 86.91 against the U.S. dollar.

Brent oil prices rose 0.11 per cent to $72.59 per barrel, as potential supply shortages came into focus after U.S. President Donald Trump again reiterated that he would start imposing measures on Russia, including a 100 per cent tariff on its secondary oil buyers if Russia did not end the war in 10-12 days.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.11 per cent to 98.77.

“Trump said that India faces tariffs to the extent of 20-25 per cent, which is much more than India and markets were anticipating, thus taking the rupee beyond 87 levels after a weak close at 86.81 on Tuesday,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Mr. Trump has said the trade deal with India is not finalised, as he stressed that India imposes more tariffs than almost any other country. Asked if the deal with India has been finalised, he said, “No, it’s not,”.

He was also asked about reports that India is preparing to face higher US tariffs between 20-25 per cent, to which he replied, “I think so.”

Meanwhile, in the domestic equity market, Sensex advanced 126.27 points or 0.16 per cent to 81,464.22, while Nifty rose 45.90 points or 0.18 per cent to 24,867.00.

FIIs offload over ₹4,600-cr worth equities

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹4,636.60 crore on a net basis on Tuesday (July 29), according to exchange data.

A U.S. team will visit India on August 25 for the next round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement between the two countries.

Though the team is coming at the end of next month, both sides remain engaged to iron out differences for an interim trade deal before August 1, which marks the end of the suspension period of tariffs imposed by Mr.Trump on dozens of countries, including India (26 per cent).

The prospects for an interim deal may look dim as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said that more negotiations will be needed with India on a trade pact. However, officials are not ruling out the possibility of a last-minute breakthrough.

Indian exporters may face an additional duty of 16 per cent – on top of the existing 10 per cent, if the August 1 deadline is not extended further or an interim deal is not reached between the two countries.