India is making “fantastic progress” in its trade deal talks with the US, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said.
The minister made the comments in London, after signing a landmark free trade deal with the UK on Thursday.
Goyal’s optimistic statement comes against the backdrop of Washington and Delhi missing several deadlines to finalise the deal.
US President Donald Trump has set 1 August as the deadline for several countries, including India, to sign a trade deal or face steep tariffs.
Trump had first announced 26% tariffs on Indian goods on 2 April as part of a wider trade policy move. While the tariffs were initially paused until 9 July, the US later extended the deadline to 1 August.
Indian delegations have made multiple trips to the US to finalise details of the deal.
Last week, Trump seemed equally optimistic, saying that Washington and Delhi were “very close” to finalising an interim trade agreement. The two countries aim to reach a bilateral deal by the end of this year.
Speaking to Reuters news agency on Thursday, Goyal said that India was making “fantastic progress” in trade deal talks with the US.
“I do hope we’ll be able to conclude a very consequential partnership,” he added.
When asked about India’s main sticking point – lower tariffs on agriculture and dairy products – Goyal said that “negotiations happen in the negotiation room.” However, he added that India might still pursue a comprehensive deal if smaller sectoral agreements can be achieved, according to Reuters.
The minister expressed similar confidence to Bloomberg, saying he believed India and the US would reach a deal before the deadline. However, it remains unclear how they will resolve the key issues that has stalled negotiations for months.
Washington has pushed for greater access to India’s farm sector for years, seeing it as a major untapped market. But India has fiercely protected it, citing food security, livelihoods and interests of millions of small farmers.
Until recently, the US was India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn. Trump and Modi have set a target to more than double this figure to $500bn.
India has already reduced tariffs on a range of goods – including Bourbon whiskey and motorcycles – but the US continues to run a $45bn (£33bn) trade deficit with India, which Trump is keen to reduce.
