Union Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
The end of this year is likely to see India move considerably forward on trade agreements with both the European Union (EU) and Canada.
While the Indian government expects the EU authorities to sign the text of the free trade agreement (FTA) with India by the end of this year, it also expects to complete negotiations on an FTA with Canada by that time, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Tuesday (September 15, 2026).
Further, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will be traveling to the U.S. at the end of this month to attend the G20 Trade Ministers’ meeting, during which he will likely hold a bilateral meeting with his U.S. counterpart to discuss trade issues, including the much-delayed interim trade agreement announced in February.
The India-New Zealand FTA is also expected to become operational in the second half of October, Mr. Agrawal said, adding that an exact date has not been finalised. The Hindu, however, has learnt that the most likely date for operationalisation is October 19.
EU FTA on track
“On the EU FTA, it is moving as per schedule,” Mr. Agrawal said. “The European Commission has sent it to the European Council for approval. After approval, it goes for signing. We expect them to sign it before the end of this year.”
After signing, the deal will have to be passed and ratified by the European Parliament.
“As far as the process has gone on, I think it is the fastest so far,” Mr. Agrawal noted.
Canada deal expedited
The Hindu had reported on September 10 that the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) would be completed by the end of this year, citing comments made by Canadian High Commissioner Christopher Cooter at The Hindu Mind event in New Delhi.
Mr. Agrawal has now confirmed this, saying that the Canadian team is currently in New Delhi and that both sides are working towards a year-end deadline.
“The fourth round of negotiations are ongoing,” Mr. Agrawal said. “The discussions are across all the chapters of the deal. Negotiations for two chapters have already been concluded. Both sides want to see good progress in this round because we are looking at a very tight timeline as both sides are working to see if we can close this agreement within the end of this year.”
Talks with U.S.
The Commerce Secretary also confirmed that Mr. Goyal will be traveling to the U.S. for the G20 Ministerial meeting on trade that is scheduled to take place on September 30 to October 1.
“We expect during the visit there definitely will be a bilateral meeting between the ministers, though it has not been confirmed and finalised,” Mr. Agrawal said. “When the bilateral takes place, all trade issues will be discussed. Even the ongoing FTA negotiations and the way forward on that will be on the agenda for discussion.”
India has been holding off on signing the interim agreement on trade with the U.S., announced in February 2026, waiting for the U.S. to make clear India’s tariff advantage over its competitors as had been agreed to.
In the meantime, the U.S. has levied a 10% tariff on India for not doing enough to stop the import of goods made using forced labour. It is also investigating whether India and other countries are using excess capacity to export to the U.S., which could see additional tariffs being levied.
Published – September 15, 2026 07:00 pm IST
