“Talks are going well and are continuously going on,” Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday (November 5, 2025) said India and the U.S. are holding continuous discussions for the proposed bilateral trade agreement.
“Talks are going well and are continuously going on. kaee samvedanasheel mudde hai, kaee gambheer mudde hai, toh svaabhaavik hai ki thoda samay lagega (There are many sensitive issues, many serious issues, so it is natural that it will take some time),” he told reporters in Auckland.
He was replying to a question about the progress on India-U.S. negotiations on the pact.
Mr. Goyal is in Auckland on a four-day official visit. He is leading a business delegation.
Five rounds of talks have been completed so far for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and India.
A team of Indian officials, headed by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, was in Washington last month to hold trade talks with their U.S. counterparts. The three-day talks ended on October 17.
In February this year, leaders of India and the U.S. directed officials to negotiate a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). They have fixed a deadline to conclude the first tranche of the pact by the fall of 2025.
These deliberations are important, as relations between the two countries have been under severe strain since the U.S. President Donald Trump administration imposed a steep 50% tariff on Indian goods. It includes a 25% additional import duty for buying Russian crude oil.
The proposed pact aims to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the current $191 billion.
The U.S. remained India’s largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion ($86.5 billion exports). It accounts for about 18% of India’s total goods exports, 6.22% in imports, and 10.73% in the country’s total merchandise trade.
India’s merchandise exports to the U.S. declined by 11.93% to $5.46 billion in September due to the high tariffs imposed by Washington, while imports increased by 11.78% to $3.98 billion during the month, according to the Commerce Ministry data.
Published – November 05, 2025 06:29 pm IST
