Talks going on very well, but sensitive issues take time: Piyush Goyal on India-US trade deal

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said discussions on the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) are progressing smoothly but cautioned that “many sensitive and serious issues” remain to be resolved, according to a report by ANI.

“Talks are going on very well. There are many sensitive issues, many serious issues, so naturally, it takes some time,” Minister Piyush Goyal told ANI when asked for an update on the ongoing India-US trade talks.

Recently, a government official had said that both sides were “very near” to finalising the first tranche of the ambitious trade pact. The official noted that India and the US have reached convergence on most issues, and negotiators are now focused on finalising the “language of the agreement.”

He added that talks were “progressing well” and that no new issues were impeding negotiations, expressing optimism that both parties would meet their intended deadline.

On October 23, negotiators from both countries held a virtual round of discussions, the fifth since March,  as part of efforts to complete the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, which is targeted to be signed by the fall of 2025.

Formally proposed in February 2025 under the directives of both nations’ leaders, the agreement aims to more than double bilateral trade volumes from the current USD 191 billion to USD 500 billion by 2030.

Earlier in September, Goyal had led a high-level delegation to the United States to advance trade negotiations. The Indian team included senior officials such as Special Secretary and Chief Negotiator Rajesh Agrawal.

Around the same time, a US delegation led by Brendan Lynch, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, held “positive and forward-looking” talks with officials from India’s Department of Commerce in New Delhi. Both sides had agreed to intensify efforts for an early, mutually beneficial conclusion of the agreement.

In recent months, India and the US have been pursuing an interim trade deal despite past tariff tensions. Earlier, US President Donald Trump had imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods effective August 1, followed by an additional 25 per cent levy later that month, citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil. The combined 50 per cent tariff took effect on August 27 as part of Washington’s broader reciprocal tariff policy targeting countries with which it has a trade deficit.

*With ANI Inputs