SOURCE : NEW18 NEWS
Last Updated:May 20, 2025, 07:23 IST
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal discussed speeding up the first tranche of the trade pact with US counterpart Howard Lutnick.
Piyush Goyal
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday held talks with US Counterpart Howard Lutnick
to expedite the first tranche of the bilateral trade pact between the two countries.
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In a post on X, Goyal said he had a “good” discussion with Lutnick.
An Indian delegation led by Goyal is in the US for talks over the trade deal.
India and the United States are intensifying discussions to finalise a scaled-down version of their bilateral trade agreement within the next 45 days, even as the full pact is expected to take shape by September or October, Moneycontrol had reported.
The ongoing negotiations are part of “Mission 500″ — an ambitious initiative aimed at more than doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Both countries are currently fine-tuning the details of the proposed trade pact, which spans multiple sectors.
On April 29, the Commerce Ministry highlighted that both nations are focusing on securing early, mutual gains as they move closer to concluding the agreement.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said that India has proposed eliminating all tariffs on American goods, noting that he is in no hurry to finalise a trade deal with New Delhi. However, the Indian government did not give any confirmation of Trump’s remark.
“Between India and the US, trade talks have been going on. These are complicated negotiations. Nothing is decided till everything is. Any trade deal has to be mutually beneficial; it has to work for both countries. That would be our expectation from the trade deal. Until that is done, any judgment on it would be premature,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said.
Representatives of India’s Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative met in Washington last month as part of ongoing discussions on the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement.
During the meetings in Washington, D.C., the team had fruitful discussions on wide ranging subjects covering tariff and non-tariff matters. The team discussed the pathway for concluding the first tranche of the mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement by Fall of 2025, including through opportunities for early mutual wins, the Ministry of Commerce had said in a statement.
In the first week of April, the Trump administration had put reciprocal tariffs of 27% on India. However, more than a week later, Trump announced to put the tariffs on hold for 90 days.
- Location :
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
- First Published:
May 20, 2025, 06:52 IST
