India pitches for US trade deal amid tariff pause, eyes $500 bn bilateral trade

His remarks come as countries look to leverage the 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump in a bid to strike new arrangements and avoid punitive duties.

“Given the scale of growth India is likely to witness over the next 25 to 30 years, driven by a large, aspirational young population, we believe India makes a compelling case for a meaningful trade deal with the US,” Goyal said at a joint press conference with Italy’s deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani, reported Moneycontrol.

Goyal said India and the US are already in talks for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) under “Mission 500”—an initiative aimed at more than doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

“We are among the first to initiate discussions with the US. A BTA is in the mutual interest of businesses on both sides,” Goyal said, adding that India and the US complement each other and can collaborate for broader global benefit, according to the report.

Progress on India-EU FTA

On trade talks with the European Union, Goyal said negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) were progressing, despite legacy issues.

“Things are moving forward on the India-EU FTA. If there hadn’t been sensitive issues, this agreement would have been concluded 18 years ago. But both sides are working to overcome them,” he said, reported Moneycontrol.

Tajani echoed the sentiment, saying Italy supported the India-EU FTA and was committed to reducing trade barriers. “India and we are working well. We want to do more and lower our barriers to strengthen cooperation between Indian and Italian companies,” he said.

India and the EU had re-launched FTA negotiations in June 2022, and in February this year, they agreed to accelerate talks with the aim of concluding the agreement by the end of 2025.

“We are working together to make the India-EU FTA a reality by the end of this year,” Goyal said.

Italy on Trump’s tariff pause

According to the Moneycontrol report, Tajani welcomed Trump’s decision to temporarily halt reciprocal tariffs and said Italy supported a “zero-for-zero” tariff framework.

“We have to wait for the 90-day window to see how the US moves. I hope there are no tariffs, as that would boost trade, but we’ll have to see what is proposed,” he said.

Both Goyal and Tajani declined to comment on China’s retaliatory tariffs against the US, following Trump’s decision to hike levies on Chinese imports to 145 per cent.

“We oppose the imposition of new tariffs. It’s a mistake to take such steps against our brothers. The goal should be zero-for-zero. The issue with China is a matter between them and the US,” Tajani said.

China has reportedly raised tariffs on US goods to 125 percent from 84 percent in response to Trump’s move.

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