First tranche of US-India trade deal likely by mid-July, says India trade minister

India and the United States are moving swiftly toward finalising the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement that could be concluded by mid-July, Indians Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

The U.S. and India reached an initial understanding on a trade deal in February, but negotiations slowed after President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff measures were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

They gathered pace once more in meetings in New Delhi this week. However, on Wednesday the U.S. proposed an additional tariff of 12.5% on imports from India, saying it was among 60 economies that had failed to curb imports made with forced labour.

"We had a full team of officials from different divisions of trade from the U.S. in Delhi," Goyal said.

Both sides were "fast moving towards closing all the open ends" of the proposed deal, he said.

The initial tranche of the agreement is expected to give India preferential trade access over competitors. "By sometime in the middle of next month or so, we should be in a position to execute a very vibrant first tranche," Goyal said.

He said a higher-level U.S. delegation is likely to visit India later this month.