India's Chief Negotiator Heads to US to Finalize Trade Deal Legal Framework

Apart from the US trade deal, Agrawal also pointed towards the India-Canada FTA, stating, "Teams engaged to finalise terms of reference."

Earlier this month, in an exclusive interview with ANI on the sidelines of BIOFACH 2026, Agrawal said India expects to finalise and sign the legal agreement for the interim trade deal with the United States before the end of March.

"The joint statement that India-US has released lays down the broad contours of the Interim Agreement that both sides have reached. Now this Interim Agreement and the understanding that has been reflected in the joint statement needs to be converted into a legal document. The process is on," Agrawal explained.

The Commerce Secretary expressed cautious optimism about the timeline while acknowledging potential challenges. "We expect that before the end of March, we should be able to finalise and sign the legal agreement. However, having said that, I think drafting a legal agreement to the satisfaction of both sides also sometimes may take time, but we are hopeful the teams are working on it, we should look at March as the timeline in which we should make it operational," he said.

Asked about the main sectors that will benefit from the agreement, the Commerce Secretary highlighted India's competitive advantage in labour-intensive industries.

"The unique strength of India lies in the labour-intensive sectors. And since US has been a very strong market for India in the labour-intensive sectors, I think with this framework Interim Agreement, there will be an advantage back to our labour-intensive sector. They will be able to grow unhindered," Agrawal said.

Addressing concerns about the 18% tariff ceiling, he said that competitive countries in the same geography have tariffs above 18%.

"Though there are talks about that 18% tariff still is high, but our competitive countries also have a tariff more than 18% in the same geography, I think when the tariff starts getting transferred to the consumers and industry, (they will) have an unhindered access to the market."

The Commerce Secretary expressed confidence that Indian exporters would be able to compete effectively with their competitors and "revive and rejuvenate the market or supply chains that they might have missed out during the Christmas time, and see that the Indian exports not only grow as they were doing well in the past years, but also grow in the coming years."

On whether India was able to protect sensitive sectors like dairy, Agrawal was emphatic about the country's negotiating position.

"India has always negotiated all agreements with a very clear mindset. Anything that is very sensitive to India, anything where we feel our farmers, our fishermen, our dairy, they are going to be impacted, I think we have been very clear to our partner countries that India cannot open up or provide access," he stated.

He pointed to India's recent track record in trade negotiations. "If you look at all the agreements that we have done in last one year, the five trade agreements that we did, all the sensitive sectors everywhere have been protected. In US also, all the key sensitive sectors have been protected. Wherever there is little sensitivity where we import also, I think we have used a TRQ [Tariff Rate Quota] mechanism to ensure that any market access is also limited in nature, and it does not impact our farmers and the ecosystem in any which way."

The Commerce Secretary said stakeholders and exporters have responded positively to the Interim Agreement.

"While negotiating the US agreement, we had deep consultations with all stakeholder ministries and even the industry at different points in time. Businesses are very happy with the outcome. They have given a thumbs up to the overall agreement," Agrawal said.

"They feel in the current scenario, when reciprocal tariffs are there to stay, all agreements provide for reciprocal tariffs. I think what we have been able to achieve under the Interim Agreement is good for India, good for our exports, and they are very positive about it. I don't see any major red line in this Agreement."

Asked about January export numbers, the Commerce Secretary expressed confidence in India's trade performance.

"Overall, India has been doing well. We have been holding well on both merchandise export and services. Services, as usual, have been doing phenomenally well. The data will come out on February 15, and you can expect a positive outcome that day," Agrawal said.

India is participating as Country of the Year at BIOFACH 2026 in Nuremberg, Germany and is showcasing its organic sector with 67 co-exhibitors from over 20 states in a 1,074 square meter pavilion.

- ANI