US team in India for trade talks; negotiations progressing well: Goyal

Brescia (Italy), Jun 5 (PTI) The US team is in New Delhi for the next round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement and the negotiations are progressing well, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

Some more US officials will reach India on June 6 to join the negotiations with their Indian counterparts.

"Talks are progressing well. The US team is in India for the talks," Goyal told reporters here.

In February, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans to negotiate the first tranche or phase of a mutually beneficial multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall (September-October) of 2025.

It is aimed at more than doubling the bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current level of USD 191 billion.

Goyal is here on an official visit to hold talks with Italian leaders and business representatives to boost trade and investments.

The visit of the US official team gains importance as India and America are likely to agree on an interim trade agreement by the end of June, with New Delhi pushing for full exemption from the 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on domestic goods.

India's chief negotiator, Special Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal, had concluded his four-day visit to Washington last month.

He held talks with his US counterpart on the proposed agreement.

Goyal was also in Washington to give an impetus to trade talks.

The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at USD 131.84 billion.

The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in the country's total merchandise trade. PTI RR BAL BAL