'We are very close': US envoy Sergio Gor says India-US trade deal will happen

The India-US trade deal is "very close" and "will happen", US Ambassador Sergio Gor said on Thursday, adding that the agreement had to be reworked after a ruling by the US Supreme Court.

"At some point it'll get finalised. We are very close," Gor told NDTV in an interview. "We're incredible trading partners, right? So it will happen. I'm confident it'll happen. Both sides want it to happen. And it'll be a win-win for both of our nations."

Gor's remarks came on the day India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the first tranche of the agreement was undergoing legal drafting.

India-US trade deal enters final stage

Gor was asked where the deal stood after it had been described as "99% done" months ago. He pointed to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's remarks this week.

"As Dr Jaishankar just said this week, we're almost at a landing spot... Look, this is a complex deal. There's a lot of items in it," he said.

Gor also referred to India's trade negotiations with the European Union as an example, saying that it "took 20 years".

"We are at a year and a half [of negotiations], and we had one done," he added, flagging a court verdict that forced a reworking. This was apparently a reference to the US Supreme Court's judgment striking down tariffs imposed by Trump under emergency powers.

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India and the US have been in talks since early 2025 on the proposed pact. It is meant to address tariff friction, eliminate non-tariff barriers and improve market access. India is seeking better tariffs for its goods in the US market than its competitors get.

Jaishankar, speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum this week, said negotiations were heading towards a "landing point".

"When countries negotiate with an economy like the United States, obviously one part of it is what you work out between yourselves and the US, and one part of it is how do you fare vis-a-vis competitive economies," he said.

India-US trade target of $500 billion

Gor said bilateral trade between India and the US had grown more than tenfold in two decades and had crossed $250 billion.

"Our trade is eclipsing $250 billion in bilateral trade today. Twenty years ago, it was less than 10% of that," he said. "And our two leaders,Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have set a very ambitious goal of hitting 500 billion in the next three years. Those are incredible numbers," he said.

"We do incredible things in the pharmaceutical industry. You look at IT, amazing things are happening both ways, investments into the United States and some of our biggest tech giants coming to India. And so these are win-win situations for both of our sides," he added.

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Gor said the US embassy in India had outperformed other US missions in attracting investment.

"Far ahead of anyone else... over $20 billion in new US investments," Gor said.

India-US ties went through a downturn after Washington imposed punitive tariffs on India last year. US President Donald Trump's assertions about his role in de-escalating the India-Pakistan military clashes of May 2025 also drew sharp reactions from Indian officials.

The US decision to raise the H-1B visa fee, and its move to restrict a key Green Card processing programme used by Indian IT firms including Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro, have added to the strain.