“With the U.S., the discussions have never broken down,” Mr. Agrawal said at a press briefing. “The negotiation teams are talking virtually on issues that are still pending,” he added. It will happen once both sides are ready.”However, Mr. Agrawal had in December also said that a tariff deal was “very near”. “This is where we are still holding on to a positive trend, that is a positive that we can take from the data,” Mr. Agrawal said. “It was still around $7 billion despite the high tariffs.

Source: The Hindu January 15, 2026 19:16 UTC