Speaking at a media event, Goyal said the trade deal would benefit both countries and that the process of building in preferential benefits available to India under the agreement was currently underway. “We have been able to protect all our sensitive sectors,” Goyal said, adding that products of India’s interest in agriculture had been safeguarded.
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“For example, no GM products can come in – no rice, wheat, corn, maize or soy meal. So all the products, and many, many more which we are sensitive about – no dairy, no poultry – they’ve all been kept out. It’s a very powerful agreement. It’s great for India. It’s good, great for the United States of America,” he said.
Denying reports of a hold-up in bilateral engagement, Goyal said: “I think there are some absolutely baseless reports circulating since this morning by some news agencies, which you should trash. They have absolutely no basis at all.”
Earlier in the day, the commerce and industry ministry said the two sides remain engaged on a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement (BTA) after the US announced two separate probes under Section 301 of its Trade Act against India and other countries in the past two days.
Goyal said the agreement would also help India access advanced technologies from the US and support its ambition to become a global data centre hub.Chief negotiators from the two sides were scheduled to meet last month in Washington, D.C. to finalise the legal text for the first phase of the BTA, but the meeting was postponed following a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States striking down sweeping tariffs imposed by the US administration. According to officials, virtual discussions between India and the US are continuing. “We can have large investments in data centres post the successful AI Impact Summit. We are looking at diversifying our energy resources, and the current war only goes on to prove that that is very essential for our long-term economic stability. We are looking at much greater engagement with market access on a preferential basis compared to most of our competitor countries,” Goyal said.
‘India-UK FTA Likely to come into Force Within a Month’
The India-UK free trade agreement will come into force in about a month, with the pact likely to be among the fastest trade deals approved by Britain’s Parliament, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Friday.
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Speaking at an Assocham meeting to commemorate two years of signing of the India-EFTA trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA), Goyal urged industry leaders to fully leverage the opportunities created under the TEPA.
“This will be the fastest agreement ever to be approved by the UK Parliament, where normally it is a one-and-a-half-year process,” he said.
India and the UK signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) on July 24, 2025.
“In fact, they are ready…The deal will enter into force one month from now,” said Goyal. “It will be the fastest that the UK has ever approved, including the Double Contribution Convention.”
Under CETA, 99% of Indian exports will get duty-free access to the UK market, while India would lower tariffs on British products such as cars and whisky.