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‘India in talks with US for trade agreement’: Piyush Goyal amid Trump tariff tensions
India is negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US amid rising tariffs on Indian goods due to its imports of Russian oil.
India is negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United States, Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday, days after Washington doubled tariffs on goods from India as a punitive measure for New Delhi's continued import of Russian oil.
“We are in dialogue with the US for a BTA,” Goyal said 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.
After a 50 per cent duty was imposed from August 27, the US team has deferred its visit to India for the next round of talks, which was scheduled from August 25.
So far, no new dates have been finalised for the sixth round of negotiations.
Goyal's statement comes shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a veiled rebuttal to Donald Trump's “dead economy” jibe, on Tuesday said the Indian economy grew 7.8 per cent in the first quarter, surpassing all expectations despite global uncertainties and challenges driven by economic self-interest.
Speaking at the Semicon India 2025 conference, Modi said GDP growth in April-June was better than "every expectation, hope and estimate".
Indian economic performance came amidst global uncertainties and “aarthik swarth se paida hue chunautiya hai” (challenges stemming from economic self-interest), he said.
"Once again, India has outperformed every expectation, every estimate, and every forecast," Modi said.
While economies around the world are facing concerns and challenges driven by economic self-interest, India has achieved a growth rate of 7.8 per cent.
Modi said the growth is visible across all sectors - manufacturing, services, agriculture, and construction - with enthusiasm evident everywhere, and added that India's rapid growth is infusing new energy across industries and among every citizen.
The Prime Minister did not elaborate on the challenges but his statement came days after Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods over the country's purchases of Russian oil. This increased total tariffs to 50 per cent -- the highest in the world.
In the run up to the imposition of the tariff, Trump had dismissed India's economy as "dead".
