Business Desk MUMBAI

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday indicated that talks on the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) are “going on very well”, but said that there are “many sensitive and serious issues” and it would take time.

“Talks are going on very well. There are many sensitive issues, many serious issues, so naturally, it takes some time,” a report by ANI from Auckland (New Zealand) quoted Minister Goyal as an update on India-US trade talks. Goyal is in New Zealand on a four-day official visit, leading a business delegation.

Last month, a government official had asserted that India and the US were “very near” to finalising the first tranche of the much-publicized BTA. The official had affirmed that both sides are converging on most of the issues and negotiators of both the countries are sorting out “language of the agreement”. Talks are progressing well on the agreement and no new issues are acting as a hurdle in the negotiations, he further said, adding that both parties are hopeful of the deadline.

On October 23, Thursday, negotiators of both countries had a virtual discussion. So far, five rounds of talks have been completed since March for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, initially decided to be inked by the “fall of 2025.” The ambitious BTA, formally proposed in February this year following directives from leaders of both countries, aims to more than double trade volumes from the current $191 billion to $500 billion by 2030.

Commerce Minister was in the US in September, leading high-level trade negotiations as both nations work toward concluding a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement. He was accompanied by a delegation of senior ministry officials including Special Secretary and India’s Chief Negotiator Rajesh Agrawal.

In mid-September, a team of US officials led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, Brendan Lynch, had “positive and forward-looking” discussions with the officials from India’s Department of Commerce in New Delhi, and it was decided to intensify efforts to achieve early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement.

Over the past few months, India and the US have been actively negotiating for the interim trade deal. President Trump had imposed reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries with which the US has a trade deficit.