India has hardened its position on issues related to agriculture as negotiations with the U.S. team in Washington have entered a crucial stage, an official said on Monday (June 30, 2025).

The official also said that the stay of the Indian team, headed by special secretary in the department of commerce Rajesh Agrawal, is expected to be extended further.

The team is in Washington for negotiations on an interim trade agreement with the U.S. Both sides are rushing to close a deal ahead of the July 9 deadline for the full implementation of a 26% reciprocal tariff which has been suspended since April.

“If the proposed trade talks fail, the 26% tariffs will come into force again,” the official added.

The stay of the Indian officials has already been extended for three days until June 30. Initially, the delegation was scheduled to stay for two days with the talks having commenced on June 26.

Another official said that the Commerce Ministry has informed domestic exporters and industry that the talks are on for the first phase of the proposed bilateral trade agreement. There would be more phases.

These talks are significant as both countries are engaged in negotiations for an interim trade deal and are trying to finalise the pact before July 9, the deadline for the expiry of the suspensions of reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration on April 2.

On April 2, the U.S. imposed an additional 26% reciprocal tariff on Indian goods but suspended it for 90 days. However, the 10% baseline tariff imposed by America remains in place. India is seeking full exemption from the additional 26% tariff.

The U.S. is demanding duty concessions in both agriculture and dairy sectors.

But these segments are difficult and challenging areas for India to give duty concessions to the U.S. as Indian farmers are into sustenance farming and have small land holdings. Therefore, these sectors are politically very sensitive. India has not opened up dairy sectors for any of its trading partners in any free trade pacts the country has signed so far.

The U.S. wants duty concessions on certain industrial goods, automobiles — especially electric vehicles, wines, petrochemical products, dairy, and agricultural items like apples, tree nuts, and genetically modified crops.

India is seeking duty concessions for labour-intensive sectors like textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, grapes, and bananas in the proposed trade pact.

Also Read | India and U.S. can only finalise ‘mini’ trade deal this year: Sources

The two countries are also looking to conclude talks for the first tranche of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by fall (September-October) this year. The pact is aimed at more than doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the current $191 billion.

Before the first tranche, they are trying for an interim trade pact.

The U.S. team was here from June 5 to June 11 for the talks. The negotiations will continue both virtually and physically in the days to come.

India’s merchandise exports to the U.S. rose by 21.78% to $17.25 billion in April-May this fiscal, while imports rose by 25.8% to $8.87 billion.