India and the US will start sector-specific talks under the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in the coming weeks, the commerce ministry said on Saturday, as the two countries concluded a 4-day negotiation in Delhi involving senior government officials from either side.

“Sectoral expert level engagements under BTA will start virtually in the coming weeks and pave the path for an early negotiating round in person,” the ministry said.

The proposal of a BTA cropped up during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in February where the two countries decided to reach an agreement by September with the target to reach $500 billion by end of the decade from $119 billion now.

The new administration under US President Donald Trump, who has often bullied India for high tariffs, is seeking greater market access and lower duties for American products to reduce the yawning trade deficit that favours India.

Talks led by Brenden Lynch, assistant trade representative for south and central Asia, in New Delhi earlier this week was crucial as President Trump has threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on many countries, including India, on Tuesday.

India, under Modi, is scurrying to avert the ire of Trump with proposals to cut duties on US imports worth $23 billion, Reuters had reported earlier this week, adding that some of the farm products such as almonds and cranberries could be on that list too.

Before the bilateral talk led by Lynch concluded on Saturday, following commerce minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Washington as a follow-up of PM Modi’s trip to the US capital, Trump on Friday expressed hope that Indo-US relation would work out ‘very well’.

“India is one of the highest tariffing nations in the world. It’s brutal, it’s brutal. They’re very smart. He (Modi) is a very smart man and a great friend of mine. We had very good talks. I think it’s going to work out very well between India and our country,” Trump said.

In 2024, India’s main exports to the US included drug formulations, biological ($8.1 billion), telecom instruments ($6.5 billion), precious and semi-precious stones ($5.3 billion), petroleum products ($4.1 billion), gold and other precious metal jewellery ($3.2 billion), ready-made garments of cotton, including accessories ($2.8 billion), and products of iron and steel ($2.7 billion).

Imports included crude oil ($4.5 billion), petroleum products ($3.6 billion), coal, coke ($3.4 billion), cut and polished diamonds ($2.6 billion), electric machinery ($1.4 billion), aircraft, space crafts and parts ($1.3 billion), and gold ($1.3 billion).

Even before Modi’s trip to the US, India is seen to be taking steps to woo the Americans such as promising to buy more oil and defence equipment, slashing duties on Bourbon whiskey and cutting basic customs duty. India’s two leading telecom companies also partnered with Starlink owned by Trump’s trusted adviser Elon Musk, to bring satellite internet to the domestic market.