India focused on getting the best trade deal with the US, says India’s commerce minister

New Delhi continues to hold talks with Washington on trade and monitors the situation regarding President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday (February 27, 2026)

The South Asian country is focused on engagement to ensure it secures the best deal in terms of competitive advantage compared to its peers, he told the broadcaster.CNN News18.

Mr Goyal discussed the trade and economic partnership with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over lunch in New Delhi on Thursday (February 26, 2026), a meeting that came as a surprise as Mr Lutnick’s private visit to India had not been made public.

Earlier this week, Trump warned countries not to withdraw from recently negotiated trade deals with the US after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs and weakened his legal authority to impose sweeping global tariffs.

Since the order, Mr Trump has announced a temporary 10% tax on all countries, including India, and promised to increase it to 15% – the maximum allowed under the statute he has resorted to.

The further course of Trump’s foreign trade deals remained uncertain, with China urging Washington to scrap tariff measures, the EU freezing their approval and India postponing planned talks.

Mr Goyal said he would not put a timeline on finalizing trade deals. New Delhi and Washington previously planned to sign a legal agreement in March.

India had last week postponed plans to send a trade delegation to Washington after the US Supreme Court struck down tariffs. Before the ruling, both countries had agreed to a framework under which Washington could cut tariffs on India from 50% to 18% — a rate that previously included a punitive 25% tariff on New Delhi’s Russian oil purchases.