<h1>Bilateral trade talks progress toward first tranche deal by fall 2025 after seven-hour meeting despite prior 50% tariff</h1> Officials reported that bilateral trade negotiations between two countries are progressing positively and moving toward an early, mutually beneficial agreement following a daylong, seven-hour meeting with a visiting high-ranking trade official. Both sides agreed to intensify efforts to conclude the first tranche of a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement by fall 2025; five negotiation rounds have occurred and a sixth was postponed after one party imposed steep tariffs (a 25% duty plus an additional 25% penalty, later described as a 50% tariff) on the other's goods. Talks are framed as negotiations, not friction.