India-US trade agreement talks progressing well: Piyush Goyal
Commerce and industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the ongoing talks between India and the US for the proposed trade agreement between India and the US are progressing well and will be for the good of both nations while protecting India's interests. Goyal also said that he is in regular and constant dialogue with the industry from different sectors including agriculture, engineering, electronics, textiles, and various interest groups.
India and the US are aiming to conclude the first phase or tranche of the agreement by the fall of 2025 (September-October). They have also set a target to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the current over $190 billion. While the US has demanded greater market access in sectors like certain industrial goods, automobiles, wines, petrochemical products and some agriculture items, India may look at duty cuts for labour intensive sectors like textiles.
In 2024, India's main exports to the US included drug formulations, biological ($8.1 billion), telecom instruments ($6.5 billion), precious and semi-precious stones ($5.3 billion), petroleum products ($4.1 billion), gold and other precious metal jewellery ($3.2 billion), ready-made garments of cotton including accessories ($2.8 billion), and products of iron and steel ($2.7 billion). Imports included crude oil ($4.5 billion), petroleum products ($3.6 billion), coal, coke ($3.4 billion), cut and polished diamonds ($2.6 billion), electric machinery ($1.4 billion), aircraft, space crafts and parts ($1.3 billion), and gold ($1.3 billion).
