Why it is in the news
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on 1-2 October 2026, after meeting Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the sidelines of the G20 trade ministers' meeting in Milwaukee, that the India-US trade deal is 'in the short strokes' and 'towards the end' but 'I don't think there's something imminent'. He said both sides had identified the 'universe of items that are sticking points' and that Narendra Modi and Donald Trump, who spoke by phone a day earlier, may speak again soon. The talks now run under a changed US legal toolkit: the 10% duty India pays is a Section 301 duty, and a new US law lets the President tariff India for buying Russian energy.
The exam angle
Issue: India must conclude a trade deal with its largest export market while the US legal basis for tariffs has shifted from emergency law to trade law and sanctions law, and while an energy-sanctions statute hangs over its crude imports.