India’s parliamentary panel calls for an expedited trade agreement with the US, emphasising safeguards for exporters as bilateral service trade surges and import pressures rise, amid ongoing negotiations and strategic concerns.
A parliamentary panel has urged India to conclude its planned trade agreement with the United States quickly, while building in safeguards for exporters that could face pressure from tariffs, customs scrutiny and shifting rules. The Standing Committee on Commerce said an early deal would give businesses in both countries more certainty, but only if India protects its own export interests, according to the report tabled in Parliament.
The committee’s concerns come against the backdrop of a wider trade framework already announced by Washington and New Delhi in February, which the White House said would support broader bilateral trade talks and more resilient supply chains. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said the arrangement includes safeguards for farmers and domestic industry, while also noting that Indian goods would benefit from a relatively lower tariff position than some rivals in the US market.
In its report, the panel called for a watch desk in the Directorate General of Foreign Trade to track US customs audits and warn exporters about regulatory changes. It also pressed for early mutual recognition agreements in areas such as professional services, pharmaceuticals and agriculture, alongside a fast-track process for trade disputes. The committee said the government should also review currency swings and logistics bottlenecks more regularly, especially where small and medium-sized exporters are concerned.
The report also highlighted the scale and changing shape of services trade between the two countries. India’s services exports to the US have reached $51.2 billion, growing at a compound annual rate of 11.58% since 2020, while imports rose faster at 18.68% a year to $47.32 billion, according to the committee. Bilateral services trade has more than doubled since 2014, but the panel warned that imports are rising more quickly than exports. It also urged India to push for exemptions on products including generic medicines, critical minerals and smartphones if US tariff pressures increase, and called for stronger access for aluminium and copper scrap, tariff cuts on engineering and auto goods, and market-linked support for textile and gems-and-jewellery exporters.
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