India-US trade deal in final stages: US envoy says talks are down to the last 1 or 2%
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "India-US trade deal in final stages: US envoy says talks are down to the last 1 or 2%")
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, speaking at the IX US India Strategic Partnership Forum Leadership Summit 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
Sergio Gor said the trade deal was briefly delayed by a Supreme Court intervention but regained momentum after Jamieson Lee Greer's New Delhi visit, with most of the agreement now complete.
The proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement is in its final stage, with only a small portion of the legal text left to be completed, United States Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said on Monday.
Speaking at the IX US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Leadership Summit 2026, Gor dismissed speculation about diplomatic differences and said negotiators from both countries were close to concluding the long-awaited agreement. He also said President Donald Trump remained committed to building a mutually beneficial partnership with India.
The trade agreement has been under negotiation for around 18 months. Gor said the process faced a temporary setback after a recent Supreme Court intervention, but discussions regained momentum following the recent visit of US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Lee Greer to New Delhi.
"That trade deal, we thought, was done until the Supreme Court decided to have another way," Ambassador Gor explained to the summit. "And so we continue to pursue that, and we are very close. Just last week, US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Lee Greer visited us in New Delhi for two days, and we are hopefully in the final steps of this deal. Most of this deal is complete. There are a few items that remain from both sides, but it's in the last 1 or 2 per cent of that deal."
Gor also compared the pace of negotiations with Europe's experience, noting that the India-US agreement had progressed much faster.
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"People ask me why this is taking so long? We've been at this trade deal for a year and a half. To put it into perspective, the European trade deal took 20 years. And so no matter what, as long as we beat the European deal, I think we're in good shape."
The ambassador's remarks came days after Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India would sign the agreement only after securing a framework that provides a comparative tariff advantage for Indian exports over competing countries.
"We cannot enter a deal with the US until the framework of having a comparative advantage is finalised," Goyal said, adding "India and the United States are very close to finalising a trade deal".
During his address, Gor also highlighted the US Mission's investment achievements in India, saying it had helped secure 20.5 billion dollars in new investments into the United States this year.
Highlighting the competition among US embassies to attract investment, Gor contrasted the figures achieved by the mission in New Delhi with those reported by several European embassies.
"You have these beautiful embassies in Europe, and they come up on stage, and they say 'We're proud to announce five hundred million dollars', 'We're proud to announce seven hundred million dollars'," Ambassador Gor stated. "Our embassy in New Delhi, this year, was very proud to announce that we brought in twenty-five billion dollars in new investment."
