India & US holding continuous talks for trade pact, says Goyal

Auckland: Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said India and the US are holding continuous discussions for the proposed bilateral trade agreement.

“Talks are going well...and are continuously going on. ..kaee samvedanasheel mudde hai, kaee gambheer mudde hai, toh svaabhaavik hai ki thoda samay lagega (There are many sensitive issues, many serious issues, so it is natural that it will take some time),” he told reporters here.

He was replying to a question about the progress on India-US negotiations on the pact.

Goyal is in New Zealand on a four-day official visit. He is leading a business delegation.

Five rounds of talks have been completed so far for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement between the US and India.

A team of Indian officials, headed by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, was in Washington last month to hold trade talks with their US counterparts. The three-day talks ended on October 17.

In February this year, leaders of India and the US directed officials to negotiate a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). They have fixed a deadline to conclude the first tranche of the pact by the fall of 2025.

These deliberations are important, as relations between the two countries have

been under severe strain since the US President Donald Trump administration imposed a steep 50 per cent

tariff on Indian goods. It includes a 25 per cent additional import duty for buying Russian crude oil.

The proposed pact aims to more than double the bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion.

‘India consistently protects interests of vulnerable sectors in FTAs’

Meanwhile, Goyal also said India consistently protects the interests of vulnerable sectors like dairy and MSMEs in free trade agreements.

He said that significant progress has been made in the negotiations of the proposed trade agreement with New Zealand.

The fourth round of negotiations is underway here for a pact between senior officials of India and New Zealand.

“India never compromises on the interests of dairy, farmers and MSMEs. We consistently protect the interests

of vulnerable sectors,” Goyal told reporters.