Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday outlined India’s evolving trade framework at the ET NOW Global Business Summit (GBS) 2026, asserting that New Delhi now negotiates from a position of strength and shapes global agreements on its own terms.
Delivering the keynote address, Goyal said India’s recent free trade agreements (FTAs), particularly the recalibrated trade understanding with theUnited States, signal a structural shift in how the country engages globally. According to him, the new tariff framework places India in a stronger competitive position compared to several Asian peers.
After months of negotiations, India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington reduced tariffs on Indian exports from 25% to 18% and rescinded the additional 25% punitive duty linked to India’s purchases of Russian oil. The revised 18% tariff now positions India more favourably than several competing economies in the US market.
Goyal made it clear that national interest guided the negotiations.
"When we did the US agreement, it was very clear that we needed to protect our farmers, and therefore, in all the main areas in which our farmers had high production or have helped us become self-sufficient, we were able to keep out of the FTA," the minister clarified.
With an 18% tariff, India now faces lower US duties than countries such as China (37%), Vietnam (20%) and Pakistan (19%). Several Asian economies have been subjected to steeper levies - Brazil tops the list at 50%, followed by Myanmar and Laos at 40% each, China at 37% and South Africa at 30%. Within Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Bangladesh face 20% tariffs, while Pakistan, Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand are at around 19%.
This places India in a relatively moderate bracket, giving it a pricing advantage over many regional competitors in labour-intensive exports such as textiles and manufacturing.
However, advanced economies continue to enjoy lower US tariffs. The European Union, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea face 15% duties, while the United Kingdom is at 10%.
Addressing concerns after the recently announcedUS-Bangladesh trade deal, Goyal clarified that Indian exporters would not be disadvantaged. The US-Bangladesh pact allows zero reciprocal tariffs on certain textile exports if raw materials are sourced from the US.
“Just as Bangladesh has a facility that if raw material is purchased from America, then if you process it and make cloth and export it, then it will be available at zero reciprocal tariff. India also has the same facility and India will also get it. Right now, our framework agreement is being made. When the interim agreement is finalised, then you will get to see this in the fine print,” Goyal said.
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