New Delhi, 2 Sep

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

He said that "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 is 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 United States of America," he added.

India has already inked free trade agreements with Australia, the UAE, Mauritius, the UK and the four European nations bloc EFTA, he said.

"Lots happen, lots more to go...With the US, we are in dialogue with them on a BTA," the minister said earlier in the day at an industry chamber event on sustainability.

India and the US have been negotiating the pact since March. So far, five rounds of talks have been completed.

A US team was scheduled to visit India from 25 August to hold the next round of talks. However, the US team deferred the visit following the imposition of a 50 per cent duty on Indian goods from 27 August.

So far, no new dates have been finalised for the sixth round of negotiations.

India and the US have planned to conclude the first phase of BTA by the fall this year, with an aim to more than double bilateral trade in goods and services to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion.

Amid tensions between India and the US, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that at the end of the day, the two great countries will get this solved. Delhi's values are much closer to ours and to China's than to Russia's.

Bessent, in an interview with Fox News, also termed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as being largely performative.

His remarks came after the annual summit of the SCO took place in the Chinese port city of Tianjin on Sunday and Monday.

"I think at the end of the day, India is the most populous democracy in the world. Their values are much closer to ours and to China's than to Russia's."

"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 claimed.

India has defended its purchase of Russian crude oil, maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.

Bessent's comments came in response to questions about the status of the India-US relationship amid the Trump administration's 50 per cent tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil.

India has termed the tariffs imposed on it as unjustified and unreasonable.

Goyal also said that this is an uncertain time with full volatility around the world.

"But it is a story of a half-full glass," he said, adding that all these issues bring a lot of opportunities for businesses.

"We recognise that there is a tremendous global turbulence and we are living in volatile, uncertain times, full of trepidations about the future," the minister said.

At the same time, he said, along with the private sector, the government is working to fortify "ourselves" for long-term capacity building.

The government is working to further strengthen the economy, he said.

India, he said, is focusing on self-reliance in terms of making resilient supply chains so that "we are not at the mercy of any one geography who can actually hurt our industry in any significant manner".

Without naming China, he added that domestic auto and electronics industries face issues when a country restricts exports of permanent magnets.

Further, he suggested that the industry look at buying ‘Swadeshi’ (local) goods and services.

Goyal, in a meeting with Cold Rolled Grain Oriented steel makers, suggested that transformer players buy ‘made in India’ steel.

Earlier, on the India-EU free trade agreement, Goyal said talks are at an advanced stage.

"We are making very active and significant progress," he said, adding that Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal is in Brussels for talks with EU officials on the pact.

The 13th round of negotiations between India and the EU will begin here on September 8.

After the meeting, European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic is visiting India on 12 September to take stock of the progress of the agreement.

As there is a deadline to conclude the negotiations by the end of this year, this round is important.

The 12th round of talks concluded in Brussels.