New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS) Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Thursday that India is engaged with the US on continuing the negotiations for the bilateral trade agreement (BTA), and clarity on the next round of talks will come closer to the end of August.

“Despite an uncertain global policy environment, India’s services and merchandise exports in July and in FY26 so far have grown substantially, and are much higher than the global exports growth,” Barthwal said at a press briefing.

India’s merchandise exports registered a 7.29 per cent increase to $37.24 billion in July this year, compared with the corresponding figure of $34.71 billion in the same month last year.

“Major drivers of goods exports in July were engineering goods, electronics goods, drugs and pharma, organic and inorganic chemicals, gems and jewellery,” he pointed out.

The surge in goods exports is also due to the fact that exporters stepped up shipments ahead of the deadline for higher US tariffs that have kicked in from August.

During April-July 2025-26 of the current financial year, exports have now registered an increase of 3.07 per cent to $149.2 billion, while imports have risen by 5.36 per cent to $244.01 billion during this period.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India would never compromise on the interests of its farmers, fishermen and the dairy sector, and declared he was prepared to bear a significant personal cost if necessary.

Meanwhile, the government has also stated that India-US ties are multi-layered and trade is “only one aspect” of a “very important relationship” that also rests on geopolitical and strategic considerations.

The government has also informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs that there is no change of plans for the sixth round of the India-US talks, which might lead to a trade agreement between the two countries.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri reaffirmed the importance of the India-US relationship despite this particular problem, and the Commerce Secretary assured that the dialogue process is ongoing.

US President Trump last week imposed an additional penal tariff of 25 per cent on India’s exports for purchases of Russian oil. This has taken the total levy on Indian exports entering the US to 50 per cent.

Barthwal further stated that the government is making efforts to diversify the country’s exports to other countries, following the steep hike in tariffs announced by the US. The government is seeking to fast-track free trade pacts and carry out a review of existing pacts such as those with the EU, the UK, the EFTA, Oman, the ASEAN, New Zealand, Peru, and Chile.

–IANS

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