India-US trade talks have 'reached a plateau', Sitharaman says
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that India-US trade negotiations have reached a 'plateau' beyond which further concessions would be 'very, very difficult' for both sides, while insisting the talks remain ongoing.
India and the United States have reached a plateau in their trade negotiations, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, 5 October, a further sign the two sides have hit a wall on a long-sought deal, Reuters reported.
Speaking at the Munich Leaders Meeting 2026 in New Delhi, Sitharaman said: “Both sides have reached a plateau beyond which giving or taking might be very, very difficult. But maybe if there are rooms to operate from, both sides would do it,” CNBC-TV18 reported. “It’s been a hard and very vigorously negotiated agreement. The negotiations are still ongoing.”
Her comments come days after US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said an agreement was not imminent, following a meeting with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Milwaukee. Greer described the talks as being in the “short strokes” but unfinished.
The two countries have been negotiating since February 2025, Business Standard reported. Sitharaman acknowledged the trade balance is in India’s favour — “the deficit is on their side” — and that Washington wants to reduce the imbalance.
She held up India’s recently concluded deal with the EU as a template, citing European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s description of it as the “mother of all deals”, under which India opened 92.5% of tariff lines and about 97% in value terms.
More on the negotiations in our India-US trade topic hub.
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