Hope to finalise US trade pact by November, says Piyush Goyal
Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday expressed hope India would conclude the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US this fall or by November.Trade negotiations with the European Union are at an advanced stage and relations with China are “returning to normal” as border tensions ease, the minister said.“We've had a little bit of a geopolitical issue overtaking trade issues in our negotiations with the US. I do hope things will get back on track soon and will conclude a bilateral trade agreement by fall, November or so, as was discussed by our two leaders in February,” Goyal said in a virtual address at an investor conference in Mumbai. “We recognise there is tremendous global turbulence.”“We are living in a very volatile, uncertain time, full of trepidation about the future,” said the minister.
Goyal’s comments come amid the ongoing turbulence in India-US ties over tariffs and New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil.On Monday, US President Donald Trump described his country’s trade relationship with India a “totally one-sided disaster,” claiming that New Delhi’s “high tariffs” were making it difficult for American businesses to sell their products in the Indian market and that India had now offered to reduce tariffs to “nothing, but it’s getting late.” While his statement came amid the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the issues between the “two great countries (India and the US)” will get resolved.Terming the SCO as being largely performative, Bessent said, “India is the most populous democracy in the world. Their values are much closer to ours and to China’s, than to Russia’s.”India and the US have been negotiating the pact since March and five rounds of talks have been completed. The two aim to conclude the first tranche of talks by fall this year. After Washington imposed a 50% tariff on India effective August 27, American trade negotiators deferred their visit to India for the next round of talks, which was scheduled from August 25. So far, no new dates have been finalised for the sixth round of negotiations.Other PactsIndia has “already completed trade pacts with Mauritius, Australia first tranche, the four-nation EFTA block, the UK, the UAE; lots have happened, lots more to go,” Goyal said at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry earlier in the day. “With the US, we are in dialogue with them for a bilateral trade agreement.”In his virtual address, he said India is becoming atmanirbhar (self-reliant) not in terms of closing the doors to international engagement, but in terms of ensuring resilient supply chains so “we are not at the mercy of any one geography.”
Goyal’s comments come amid the ongoing turbulence in India-US ties over tariffs and New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil.On Monday, US President Donald Trump described his country’s trade relationship with India a “totally one-sided disaster,” claiming that New Delhi’s “high tariffs” were making it difficult for American businesses to sell their products in the Indian market and that India had now offered to reduce tariffs to “nothing, but it’s getting late.” While his statement came amid the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the issues between the “two great countries (India and the US)” will get resolved.Terming the SCO as being largely performative, Bessent said, “India is the most populous democracy in the world. Their values are much closer to ours and to China’s, than to Russia’s.”India and the US have been negotiating the pact since March and five rounds of talks have been completed. The two aim to conclude the first tranche of talks by fall this year. After Washington imposed a 50% tariff on India effective August 27, American trade negotiators deferred their visit to India for the next round of talks, which was scheduled from August 25. So far, no new dates have been finalised for the sixth round of negotiations.Other PactsIndia has “already completed trade pacts with Mauritius, Australia first tranche, the four-nation EFTA block, the UK, the UAE; lots have happened, lots more to go,” Goyal said at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry earlier in the day. “With the US, we are in dialogue with them for a bilateral trade agreement.”In his virtual address, he said India is becoming atmanirbhar (self-reliant) not in terms of closing the doors to international engagement, but in terms of ensuring resilient supply chains so “we are not at the mercy of any one geography.”Add 
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