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Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that he had a “forward looking” discussion with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement.
“Our approach will be guided by ‘India First’, ‘Viksit Bharat’ and our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” the Commerce Minister wrote on his X timeline, sharing a photograph of the meeting.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was in the US last week. His visit to the US followed US President Donald Trump and PM Modi’s plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the fall of 2025.
The two leaders had committed to designating senior representatives to advance these negotiations. During the recent meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two leaders resolved to expand trade and investment to make their citizens more prosperous, nations stronger, economies more innovative, and supply chains more resilient.
They resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation. To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade – “Mission 500” – aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030.
Since assuming office for his second term, President Trump has reiterated his stance on tariff reciprocity, emphasising that the United States will match tariffs imposed by other countries, including India, to ensure fair trade.
The US has on various occasions said India has some of the highest tariffs in the world and that this will require a rethink. The US trade secretary Howard Lutnick said recently that he was keen in negotiating a broad-based trade agreement with India, taking into account the entire trade relationship rather than individual products.
Speaking virtually at the India Today Conclave last week, Lutnick acknowledged that finding a mutually beneficial solution would require understanding and cooperation from both sides.
(Inputs from ANI)
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