India and the US will hold another round of trade talks in May, while virtual meetings between negotiators will commence this week, a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

An Indian team of negotiators led by Additional Secretary Rajesh Aggarwal had met with US counterparts for four days (March 26-29).

The meeting had happened in the backdrop of US President Donald Trump threatening reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods entering the US. Trump, on April 3, had paused the tariff imposition for 90 days.

The commerce ministry official said the terms of reference for bilateral trade agreement (BTA) negotiations have been agreed upon. The negotiations will start virtually this week, and these virtual discussions are to lead to physical negotiations, perhaps in the second half of May.

Meanwhile, Secretary Commerce Sunil Barthwal, while answering questions, said: “With the US, we have chosen a clear path that is of trade liberalization and BTA,” adding, “I think if we follow this path, India’s trade with the US will grow. There will be more opportunities than concerns.”

Both countries will aim to increase trade through a BTA, and there will be higher trade in case the BTA materializes.

The two sides are discussing a bilateral trade agreement and plan to implement the first tranche of the agreement by September-October this year.

Officials said the BTA is to be finalized by September-October, but it does not mean that it cannot be done before that.