U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Thursday that a trade deal with India is not on the cards soon, even as negotiations enter their final phase. "I don't think there is something imminent," Greer told reporters after the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Milwaukee, in response to a question from Indian news agency ANI. "But we truly have identified the universe of items that are sticking points."
Greer used an American expression to describe the state of play: the talks are in the "short strokes" — the final stretch of a task. "I think we're toward the end of it," he said. Working-level teams from both countries are still at the table. "Our staff is meeting right now, since they're in the country and we're here," Greer said. "We are continually trying to finish the trade deal with India."
Greer's comments came a day after President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke by phone on Wednesday morning — a call Greer described as "very constructive." He suggested the two leaders may speak again "very soon" to assess progress.
On Wednesday evening, Greer also held a bilateral meeting with Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the sidelines of the G20 gathering. Goyal struck a more upbeat tone afterward on social media, saying the two discussed an "early conclusion of a mutually beneficial interim agreement under the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement."
"Goyal is counting the issues already resolved, and Greer is counting the ones that remain," Ronak D. Desai, a visiting fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, told CNBC — noting that the final issues in any trade negotiation tend to be the hardest to resolve.
Greer did not name the remaining sticking points, but experts point to two familiar frictions. For Washington, India's continued purchases of Russian oil remain an important point of friction. For New Delhi, the priority is protecting the politically sensitive agricultural sector and preferential tariffs that give it an advantage over peers.
The Modi-Trump call on Wednesday also reviewed bilateral cooperation across trade, defense, energy and critical technologies, according to the Indian readout. Goyal's trip doubles as attendance at the G20 trade ministers meeting in Milwaukee — where he and Greer toured Rockwell Automation together on Wednesday, September 30.
What to watch next: when the next Trump-Modi call comes, and whether the working teams can genuinely narrow the "universe of sticking points." Greer was blunt about the timeline: the direction is the finish line, but don't expect an announcement tomorrow.