NEW DELHI: As India studies the impact of the US court order on Donald Trump’s tariff threat, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday indicated that the two sides are on course for a bilateral trade agreement. He also stated that negotiations for a trade deal with the European Union (EU) are progressing at a faster pace.“We are well on track in our bilateral trade agreement with the US and making fast progress with EU,” Goyal said at the CII’s Annual Business Summit, 2025. The court ruling has put a question mark over Trump’s ability to impose reciprocal and baseline tariffs, although the order will be challenged.A team of officials from the US is scheduled to be in the Capital next week to take forward the dialogue. “Hopefully, in these tough times also, we will be able to navigate and come out with good outcomes sooner rather than later. We should be able to work out a trade partnership, where there are natural comparative advantages to our businesses on both sides,” said Rajesh Agrawal, India’s chief negotiator.He suggested that the deal could be a win-win solution for both sides, given that India and the US compete in very few areas. “Most of the areas are where we can complement each other. If we can do a good trade deal, this can be a defining partnership in the trade arena, and that’s what is the intent behind approaching this bilateral trade agreement,” Agrawal said.The overall discussion around tariffs and trade deficit is the narrative of the US, and those are the challenges they must meet, he added. “But that should not come in the way of our trade partnership that we are trying to stitch together,” he said.By June-end, India and the US are likely to conclude negotiations for what is likely to be an “early deal” with the first round targeted to be concluded by Fall.
