Jamieson Greer heads to India as US, India push trade deal

Washington, June 22 (IANS) US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer will travel to India this week for talks with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and other senior Indian officials as Washington and New Delhi seek to advance negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement that both sides say is nearing completion.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced on Sunday that Greer will visit New Delhi before travelling onward to Uzbekistan.

According to the statement, Greer will meet Goyal and other senior Indian officials “to discuss the historic United States–India Joint Statement and the Interim Agreement as part of the broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement negotiations, launched by President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025.”

A senior administration official had signalled the visit earlier this month while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France. At the time, the official had said US and Indian negotiators had been engaged in “quite intensive” discussions and confirmed that he would be travelling to India to continue the talks.

The trip also follows recent remarks by Donald Trump, who said after meeting Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit that the two countries were “very close” to reaching a trade agreement.

The US statement did not provide details of the agenda beyond discussions related to the joint statement, the interim agreement and the broader bilateral trade negotiations. It also did not indicate how long Greer will remain in India.

Following his visit to New Delhi, Greer will travel to Tashkent, where he is scheduled to meet Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Head of the Presidential Administration Saida Mirziyoyeva, and Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev.

“Ambassador Greer will conduct each of these meetings with his counterparts to discuss achieving fair, balanced, and reciprocal trade with the United States,” the statement said.

The United States is one of India’s largest trading partners, with bilateral trade in goods and services continuing to grow over the past decade. Economic ties have expanded across sectors including technology, manufacturing, energy, pharmaceuticals and critical supply chains.

The negotiations are part of a broader effort by Washington and New Delhi to build a comprehensive trade framework that supports deeper strategic cooperation.

Greer has previously described India as “a tough nut to crack” on some market-access issues, particularly in sectors where India maintains significant protections. At the same time, he has pointed to the existence of a joint framework agreement that provides the basis for continued negotiations between the two countries.

The trade discussions are taking place alongside an expanding strategic partnership that spans defence, emerging technologies, critical minerals, education and people-to-people ties. Both governments have repeatedly described the India-US relationship as one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century, with stronger economic integration viewed as a key component of that vision.

–IANS

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