IAS Darpan Jain
Darpan Jain will now lead the trade deal negotiations with America from India’s side. He is a 2001 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre and is currently working as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Earlier Rajesh Aggarwal was performing this responsibility, but now he has been made the Secretary of the Commerce Ministry. Even after becoming Secretary, Aggarwal will continue to oversee the negotiations.
Before becoming the Chief Negotiator, Darpan Jain had played an important role in bilateral trade negotiations with many countries. He has been working in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the last six years and is considered to have good expertise in international trade negotiations.
Talks will be held from December 10th
A high-level team from the US Trade Representative Office will visit India from 9 to 11 December 2025. Which will be led by Deputy US Trade Representative Ambassador Rick Switzer. Talks between India and America will take place on 10 and 11 December. All trade related issues will be discussed in these meetings, so that both the countries can take forward the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
Big expectations for the industry
The important thing is that the industry is expecting some good results from the upcoming talks, because recently Agarwal had said that India is hoping to reach a framework trade deal with the US this year itself. Two different types of talks are going on between India and America. The first framework trade deal, in which issues like tariffs (import duties) are discussed. Second Comprehensive Trade Deal, which will be a big and comprehensive agreement. In 2024-25, the US remains India’s largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year. The total trade between the two countries was $131.84 billion, in which India exported goods worth $86.5 billion to America.