“A visit is planned and likely soon,” said a senior government official.
Goyal had last visited the US in May when he met US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington DC.
A team of American trade officials led by Brendan Lynch, assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia, met Indian trade negotiators in New Delhi Tuesday in the first in-person meeting after President Donald Trump imposed 25% penal tariffs on New Delhi over purchases of Russian oil effective August 27, on top of 25% imposed earlier.
New Delhi termed the talks positive and both sides agreed to push for an early and mutually beneficial conclusion of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
Commerce and industry minister said Thursday that trade talks between India and the US are progressing and moving in the right direction, and that the India-US relationship is a “very strong, comprehensive strategic partnership between two friendly countries”.
Change in Stance
New Delhi termed the talks positive and both sides agreed to push for an early and mutually beneficial conclusion of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
Commerce and industry minister said Thursday that trade talks between India and the US are progressing and moving in the right direction, and that the India-US relationship is a “very strong, comprehensive strategic partnership between two friendly countries”.
“It was decided to intensify efforts to achieve early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement,” the commerce and industry ministry said Tuesday in a statement after the seven-hour meeting with US officials.
“A team from US Trade Representative led by Assistant USTR Brendan Lynch had meetings at the Ministry of Commerce on September 16 to take forward the ongoing negotiations for a trade deal with the US. The discussions were positive and forward-looking, covering various aspects of the trade deal,” said external affairs ministry spokesperson.
The US trade team had been scheduled to visit India August 25-29 for the sixth round of negotiations on the BTA, but that got deferred even as Washington imposed 50% tariffs on India. Both sides have held virtual meetings on a weekly basis since then.
US ambassador-designate to India Sergio Gor told the Senate last week that Trump has invited India’s trade and commerce minister to meet with USTR Jamieson Greer in Washington. India’s exports to the US, meanwhile, fell to $6.86 billion in August from $8.01 billion in July, reflecting the impact of higher tariffs.
Washington has been pressuring India to curb Russian oil purchases as it claims this was helping fund that country’s war with Ukraine. It has also been pushing India to buy US soybean and corn, something that New Delhi is resisting, citing concerns over genetically modified varieties.
The two sides had in February announced their aim to conclude the first part of the BTA by fall this year and five rounds of talks have taken place toward that end. India and the US aim to double their bilateral trade in goods and services to $500 billion by 2030 under the BTA.
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