New Delhi: Amid the talks of interim trade arrangement between the US and India, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal will lead a team of senior Indian officials to Washington for about a week-long tour, starting from May 17 for discussions with their US counterparts on the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA). In his crucial visit, Goyal is expected to hold meetings with US trade representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick on the agreement, a source close to development said on Tuesday.The minister’s US tour comes at a time when India’s proposal to impose retaliatory tariffs on US products under World Trade Organisation (WTO) norms, in response to American safeguard measures on steel and aluminium imports, may be also figured in the BTA deliberations. However, both the countries are exploring possibilities of an interim trade deal in goods to secure ‘early mutual wins’ ahead of finalising the first phase of the trade agreement by fall (September-October) this year. “The chief negotiators of both countries will hold bilateral meetings from May 19-22. Goyal will reach Washington on May 16. The main issues that will figure in the negotiations include market access, rules of origin, and non-tariff barriers. In these discussions, officials from New Delhi and Washington aim to take advantage of the 90-day tariff pause window to advance the talks,” the source said. To boost the bilateral trade between the two countries, India is seeking duty concessions for labour-intensive sectors like textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, chemicals, grapes, and bananas in the proposed pact with America. On the other hand, the US wants duty concessions in sectors like certain industrial goods, automobiles (electric vehicles in particular), wines, petrochemical products, dairy, agriculture items such as apples, and tree nuts. Meanwhile, the US has suspended the additional 26 per cent tariffs on India till July 9. It was announced on April 2 to bridge the widening trade deficit. However, the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed on the countries will continue to remain in place. India's chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, special secretary in the department of commerce, and assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch had last month held three-day talks in Washington. Before that in March, Goyal held bilateral meetings with Greer and Lutnick. India and the US have already initiated sectoral-level talks for the pact. The two sides are deliberating both on tariffs (related to goods) and non-tariff matters. The terms of reference or ToRs for the BTA have been finalised by India and the US, which include around 19 chapters covering issues like tariffs, goods, services, rules of origin, non-tariff barriers, and customs facilitation. The US has on multiple occasions raised concerns over certain non-tariff barriers being faced by American goods in the Indian markets. The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in the country's total merchandise trade.