By Shivangi Acharya
NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Trade deal talks between India and the United States have reached a plateau and further concessions might be difficult, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, in the latest sign of difficulties in long-running efforts to finalise a bilateral agreement.
The comments are New Delhi’s strongest public acknowledgement that talks on key issues have stalled for a deal both have sought since February 2025, with an aim to strengthen economic ties and resolve thorny market access issues.
Talks have reached a point beyond which additional give and take would be “very, very difficult” for both sides, Sitharaman said, citing limited room to manoeuvre.
“It’s been a hard and very vigorously negotiated agreement,” Sitharaman said at an event in the Indian capital, but added that negotiations were continuing.
Scope for a final compromise has narrowed after US President Donald Trump signed into law a congressional bill that gives him authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying significant Russian oil, including India and China.
The world’s third-biggest oil importer, India ranks among the biggest buyers of Russian oil, seen as helping Moscow to withstand sweeping Western sanctions since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Potential new US tariffs have put Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an energy policy bind — cutting Russian oil imports could increase fuel prices or stress government finances while maintaining such purchases could cripple exports to India’s largest market.
India has also warned that Washington’s new measures could harm ties.
Last week, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said a trade agreement was not imminent, after meeting Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal in the United States.
Sitharaman said the balance of trade was in India’s favour and the deficit was Washington’s.
“They would want to reduce that imbalance,” she said.
‘GIVE AND TAKE’
The United States is India’s top export destination with goods shipments rising to $42.79 billion from April to August from $40.39 billion a year earlier, according to the latest Indian official data.
Reuters reported earlier this year that India and the US could not reach a consensus with New Delhi holding out for a better deal, while Washington sought more concessions.
“India should stop giving away concessions while the US trade deal remains unfinished,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder of New Delhi-based think-tank Global Trade Research Initiative and a former trade official.
Sitharaman criticised the increasing use of tariffs to tackle trade imbalances, or “weaponising” them, saying the use of such levies had moved beyond the role of an instrument in negotiations.
She referred to India’s own large trade deficit with China, suggesting New Delhi would rather resolve that imbalance through talks.
“I can take the same position, can I not, with China? It is so lopsided, it is terribly against me, but no you can’t, you have to negotiate, you have to give and take,” she added.
(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya; Writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Manoj Kumar; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Christian Schmollinger, Clarence Fernandez and Kate Mayberry)
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