New Delhi, Nov. 29 -- India is looking to finalize a framework agreement on reciprocal tariffs with the US by the end of this year, said commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal, marking a significant step toward resolving the strained bilateral trade between the two countries. The two countries are making steady progress on a deal running parallel to the broader bilateral trade agreement negotiations, and the government is pursuing "two separate parallel tracks" with Washington, Agrawal said. "While a comprehensive trade agreement will take longer due to its wide scope, the framework deal-aimed specifically at addressing reciprocal tariff challenges-has moved into an advanced stage," he said, speaking at an event organised by Ficci on Friday. US President Donald Trump initially announced a 25% reciprocal tariff on India in April, but imposed an additional 25% in August for buying Russian oil, taking the total levy on Indian goods to 50%. That has hit India's exports to the US from labour-intensive sectors such as garments, leather, gems and jewellery. Shipments to the US account for roughly 2% of India's GDP. "We are very optimistic and hopeful that we should find a solution within this calendar year. We have engaged deeply with the US teams over the last few months and have tried to iron out most issues. It is now only a matter of time to find the right landing zone for both countries," the Commerce Secretary said at the event. "The progress on the framework agreement will support and feed into the larger bilateral negotiations." New Delhi and Washington have been negotiating a bilateral trade agreement since it was announced on 13 February during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington. Both leaders had issued a joint statement at the time, committing to increase the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Despite trade volatility, Agrawal said India's merchandise exports touched $491 billion in the first seven months of FY26 against $469 billion a year earlier. He pointed to Indian exporters' ability to diversify markets after the US tariffs, citing a 60% jump in shrimp exports to the European Union (EU). He said the India-EU summit in January was expected to give momentum to the trade negotiations. Both sides had earlier committed to concluding the talks by the end of December. Meanwhile, India's exports to the US showed signs of recovery in October after four straight months of decline, even as broader exports remained subdued and the country's import bill ballooned due to a sharp rise in gold and silver shipments....