Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday assured that India is handling the ongoing tariff concerns with the United States wisely, focusing to ramp up bilateral trade to $500 billion.
Goyal expressed optimism about India’s pace in talks with Washington and said that the discussions were already advancing in a positive direction.
Yesterday, before Trump’s announcement of the 90 day pause for tariffs, the Union minister had asked people to not panic with the US tariff and assured that India is working on the “right mix and right balance” towards its proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United States.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, today, he further highlighted that PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump had already laid the groundwork for strengthening the bilateral relations during the former’s visit to the US in February.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump had decided back in February to strengthen our bilateral relations and sign a trade agreement that will make trade between India and the United States easier. This will also increase trade up to $ 500 billion, which is about two and a half times more than before,” the commerce minister said, quoted by news agency ANI.
Goyal further added, “It will create more job opportunities for the people and further strengthen the country’s economy,” the minister said.
Goyal also made it clear that trade strategy is focused on “keeping India’s interests at the forefront” and expressed hope that the bilateral trade agreement will “power” the economy towards Viksit Bharat 2047.
His comments came a day after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on his administration’s “reciprocal tariffs” affecting more than 60 countries, a list that notably excluded China. Tariffs on Chinese imports were hiked from 104 per cent to a staggering 125 per cent, effective immediately.