Goyal says efforts on to resolve sensitivities in US trade talks

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said India and the US were holding continuous discussions for the proposed bilateral trade agreement.

“Talks are going well...and are continuously going on. There are many sensitive issues, many serious issues, so it is natural that it will take some time,” he told mediappersons here.

He was replying to a question about the progress on India-US negotiations on the pact. Goyal is here on a four-day official visit. He is leading a business delegation. Five rounds of talks have been completed so far for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement between the US and India.

A team of Indian officials, headed by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, was in Washington last month to hold trade talks with their US counterparts. The three-day talks ended on October 17.

In February this year, leaders of India and the US directed officials to negotiate a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). They have fixed a deadline to conclude the first tranche of the pact by the fall of 2025.