India may Seek for More Technology Access and Concession in Tariffs with US

India may seek more critical technologies and export controls with the United States in the 2025 Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations. The US bilateral trade with India is valued at USD 131.84 billion, making the US as India’s largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year.  India has maintained a trade surplus of USD 41.18 billion in goods for the year 2024-25 with the US.

The technologies that India might be focusing on will include sectors of telecom equipment, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Apart from technological access, India is also seeking tariff reductions on its labor-intensive export sectors which include gems, leather goods, textiles, garments, plastics, chemicals, and jewelry. Agricultural products like grapes and bananas, Seafood such as shrimp.

 The United States has also proposed to secure duty concessions for industrial goods, automobiles, petrochemicals, wines, dairy and agricultural items such as apples and tree nuts. A report from the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) suggests that the US has comparatively eased the export controls to strengthen technology partnerships with their close allies.

The increased access to cutting-edge technologies would notably strengthen India’s innovation capabilities and technological infrastructure can result in the tremendous growth of India’s economy.