India, US still in dialogue for bilateral trade deal, says Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal said India and the US remain in talks for a trade deal despite tariff frictions, even as India advances free trade agreements with the EU and other partners

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday expressed hope that India would conclude the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US by the fall or November this year.

 

He said “a little bit” of geopolitical issues overtook the trade matters in the negotiations for the pact between the two countries.

 

“I do hope that things will get back on track soon and we will conclude a bilateral trade agreement by the fall, November or so, as was discussed by our two leaders in February,” Goyal said at the Annual Global Investor Conference 2025 in Mumbai.

 

In his virtual address, he said there was an excitement across the world to expand trading and business relations with India. “We have had a little bit of geopolitical issues overtaking trade issues in our negotiations with the US,” he added.

 

 

Earlier in the day, at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Goyal said India and the US continue to engage with each other for a trade deal. “We are in dialogue with the US for a bilateral trade agreement,” Goyal said.

 

The US administration imposed a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff from August 7, followed by an additional 25 per cent from August 27, on a wide range of Indian-origin products, citing New Delhi’s purchases of Russian crude.

 

Both countries have been negotiating a trade deal since March-end. However, the formal round of negotiation from August 25 was postponed over the imposition of the additional 25 per cent tariff.

 

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed confidence that both countries would resolve their trade frictions, even as he continued to criticise India for the purchase of discounted Russian oil. “I think at the end of the day, two great countries (India and the US) will get this solved. But the Indians have not been great actors in terms of buying Russian oil and then reselling it, financing the Russian war effort in Ukraine,” he told Fox News in an interview.

 

Other deals

 

At the CII event, Goyal said India’s supply chains are resilient, and the nation is not at the “mercy of any other country choosing to switch on or switch off the tap”. This, he said, is making India Atmanirbhar and self-reliant, while building the confidence of young India to take on global challenges.

 

India has signed free-trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia, the UAE, Mauritius, the UK, and the four-nation European bloc EFTA, the minister said.

 

He said the FTA talks with the EU are at an advanced stage. Currently, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal is in Brussels to push the proposed pact. Following his visit, negotiators from both sides will meet for the next round of talks starting September 8. Thereafter, Maroš Šefčovič, commissioner of the European Commission for Trade and Economic Security, will travel to India to hold talks with Goyal and take certain political calls regarding the unresolved issues of the negotiation.

 

“We are making very active and significant progress,” Goyal said.