In the 2024-25 period, the United States remained India's top trading partner, with bilateral trade at about $131.84 billion; exports to the US were $86.5 billion and imports from the US $45.34 billion.

This visit follows prior talks in September and a September 22 delegation led by a senior Indian official, continuing the ongoing engagement.

Brendan Lynch serves as the US Chief Negotiator for the pact, while Rajesh Agrawal leads India's negotiating team; Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has been involved in previous talks.

Two parallel tracks are progressing: a framework trade deal to address tariffs and a separate comprehensive trade agreement.

The current visit is aimed at advancing the first tranche of the Bipartisan Trade Agreement (BTA) discussions and securing a framework that addresses reciprocal tariffs for Indian exporters within the year.

India aims to reach a framework trade deal this year to address reciprocal tariffs that would benefit Indian exporters, while negotiations for a broader comprehensive trade agreement continue.

The visit comes after five completed rounds of trade talks and amid Washington's 50% tariffs on India, including 25% penalties tied to purchases of Russian energy, effective August 27.

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said that only a few issues remain and that political decisions are needed on remaining points in both the framework and the BTA talks.

A US trade delegation is expected to visit India next week to continue negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement, with dates being finalized.

The overarching objective of the pact is to double bilateral trade to about $500 billion by 2030 from roughly $191 billion currently.

India’s merchandise exports to the US fell by about 8.6% in October to $6.3 billion, while imports from the US rose roughly 13.9% to $4.46 billion, according to commerce ministry data.