'It would be historic’: Jamieson Greer says India-US trade talks set for next week

US merchandise Representative Jamieson Greer said on wed that he expects to receive commercialism government minister Piyush Goyal “soon” even as an American trade delegation prepares to visit India next week for talks on an interim bilateral trade agreement (BTA).Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Greer expressed hope that the agreement could be finalised soon. “We’ve had many meaningful discussions. We have a framework agreement done with the Indians. I have a team going there next week. I expect to meet with my counterparts soon as well,” Greer said. “I would really like to be in a position to finalize our agreement with them as well on the basis of the joint framework we agreed to. It would be historic for the US and India.”US team to visit India on June 1The US delegation visiting India from June 1-4 will be led by Assistant US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch, Greer said.Separately, the commerce ministry said the upcoming talks are aimed at finalising details of the interim agreement and carrying forward negotiations under the broader India-US BTA framework.Referring to the February 7 joint statement between the two countries, the ministry said the framework reaffirmed their commitment to negotiations on a broader bilateral trade agreement.In pursuance to the objective, the Indian negotiating team visited Washington DC last month (from April 20-23) for in person round of meetings with their US counterparts, it said. “To carry forward the discussions, the US team led by the chief negotiator will be visiting India from 1-4th June 2026,” it added.“It is proposed to finalise the details of the Interim Agreement and take forward the negotiations under the broader BTA on multiple areas such as market access, non-tariff measures, customs and trade facilitation, investment promotion, and economic security alignment,” the statement said on Wednesday.Recent India-US engagementsSenior officials from India and US have held meetings in recent weeks. US ambassador Sergio Gor met finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 20, while US secretary of state Marco Rubio visited India from May 23-26.HT on April 25 reported that the talks were proceeding on two broad tracks, establishing a legally tenable tariff architecture following the Supreme Court’s ruling, and securing India’s comparative advantage over competing exporters like China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.Tariff uncertainty in focusThe negotiations are taking place amid legal uncertainty surrounding reciprocal tariffs proposed by US President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The uncertainty follows the US Supreme Court’s February 20 ruling striking down the reciprocal tariffs under IEEPA. The ruling affected the proposed tariff framework that had formed part of the February 7 understanding between India and the US.