India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal concluded nearly a week-long visit to the US on March 9. Stakeholders back home remained on edge as sensitive sectors like automobiles and agriculture were the focus of the trade talks. India is trying to negotiate a balanced trade deal amid the looming threat of reciprocal tariffs. Concerns about negotiating a trade deal with the US also emerges from Trump’s history of disregarding such pacts, evident from his decision to violate the terms of the US-Mexico free trade agreement (FTA), and slap tariffs on imports from the two countries. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), an Indian thinktank, has strongly advised against brokering a deal with U.S. The US is India’s top export destination and its fourth-largest source of imports. At $91 billion in 2024, India ranks 10th among the top exporting nations to the United States, with Mexico, China and Canada occupying the first three positions. The decision to negotiate the bilateral trade agreement between India and the US (BTA) was taken during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to US on February 13.