Formal signing, detailed documentation on India–US trade deal likely within days: Sources

India and the United States have announced a breakthrough trade deal, with detailed documentation and a formal signing expected within days, sources familiar with the discussions told CNBC-TV18.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday, following a phone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that Washington will cut the reciprocal tariff on Indian goods to 18% from 25%.

White House sources indicated that operational details, including the mechanism for bringing tariffs down to 18%, will be finalised within a week.

A formal signing could take place during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Washington DC, where he is scheduled to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sources added.

President Trump has also said India will reduce tariffs to zero on select US goods and ease non-tariff barriers, though the extent of market access remains unclear.

The deal comes after Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal earlier said there were “no sticking points” left in negotiations.

The breakthrough comes after talks had stalled following Washington’s imposition of 50% tariffs — including a 25% punitive levy linked to India’s purchase of Russian crude oil.

The latest phone call between Trump and Modi marks their first conversation since October 2025.

However, former Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan described the recent India-US trade agreement as a limited deal rather than a full-fledged free trade agreement. “I wouldn’t say that any side (India or the US) has an upper hand. But this is not a typical free trade agreement as envisaged under WTO provisions, where the tariff concessions have to be very comprehensive across more than 90% of the tariff lines, as we have done with the EU and the UK.

This is a trade agreement where some very limited areas of ambition related to goods, which were long-standing in terms of both countries maintaining these ambitions. So those have been addressed. So, it is a very limited trade agreement; it is not a free trade agreement. The hope is that India has some areas of ambition in services like all these H-1B visas, etc. and all our offshore businesses.

So, some areas of ambition that India has, the hope is that in the next stage, we will be discussing services, and those will get addressed. But the scope of everything is very limited. And I think both sides never agreed to a free trade agreement, which necessarily, under WTO law, has to be, you know, very comprehensive and very extensive. So I don’t think any side has an upper hand.

Basically, both sides will get some of the key long-standing ambitions in goods addressed through the deal, and it will go on to services, and some of India’s areas of interest should get addressed,” Wadhawan said.

First Published: 

Feb 3, 2026 1:16 AM

IST