Piyush Goyal Rejects Report Saying India Rejected a 'Quick Agreement' on US Trade Deal

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal dismissed a Reuters report claiming India rejected a quick trade deal with the US to hold out for better terms and issued a sharp denial on social media on Monday.

"This news is completely false, baseless and misleading," Goyal said, confirming that both nations maintain active negotiations following his "fantastic meetings" with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in New Delhi in June 2026.

"Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to an agreement that is balanced, commercially meaningful, and delivers tangible benefits for businesses, farmers, workers, and consumers in both countries. Our teams remain fully engaged in achieving this objective," He added.

The original Reuters report claimed New Delhi walked away from a swift agreement. It suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought a superior deal, bolstered by domestic political victories, fresh trade alliances and reduced economic vulnerabilities.

Negotiations Remain on Track

Bilateral trade talks continue without disruption as commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal told a New Delhi trade briefing that discussions on the proposed India-US trade agreement are moving forward smoothly.

"The framework deal is ready, whenever it is the right time it will be signed," Agrawal said. He said that deals are about comparative advantage and structuring preferences versus competitors.

Agrawal said there is no negativity or difference between India and the US. "There are no negativity, difference between India and US, both sides know each other's expectations, both sides know what's coming in the framework deal and both sides are positively engaged," he said.

Rising Energy Trade Ties

India continues scaling up energy purchases from the US to diversify its import basket, Agrawal said.

According to official data overall imports of American mineral fuels, oils and related products rose to $17.32 billion in the 2025-26 financial year, up from $14.37 billion in 2024-25.

While American crude shipments to India surged by nearly half. Purchases climbed from $6.6bn (Rs 55,367 crore) in FY2024-25 to $9.9bn (Rs 86,530 crore) in FY2025-26, IEEFA reported.

Energy ties continued strengthening as the US share of India's total crude import volume rose to 8.1 per cent during the April–December period of FY2025-26. This was up from 4.6 per cent in the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26 released in January 2026.