US: Piyush Goyal leads high-stakes trade talks in Washington amid tariff turmoil

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in the United States this week spearheading high-level negotiations as India and the US push to conclude a long-awaited bilateral trade agreement, a senior government official confirmed Wednesday.

Goyal is joined by a delegation of senior ministry officials, including Special Secretary and India’s Chief Negotiator Rajesh Agrawal. According to an ANI report, the team is holding wide-ranging discussions with American counterparts on both trade and non-trade issues. The ministerial delegation is expected to return to India by the end of the week.

Building on New Delhi talks

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The talks build on a day-long round of discussions in New Delhi on September 16 between US Chief Negotiator Brendan Lynch and Agrawal. The Commerce Ministry described those exchanges as “positive,” with both sides agreeing to step up efforts toward an “early and mutually beneficial conclusion” of the proposed deal.

The negotiations come at a sensitive moment. Washington recently slapped a 25 percent tariff --along with an additional 25 percent penalty-- on Indian exports, linking the move to New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian crude oil.

Trade pact ambitions and challenges

Despite the setback, officials say momentum toward the pact remains intact. Launched in February under the direction of both governments’ leaders, the agreement seeks to more than double trade flows from the current $191 billion to $500 billion by 2030.

Five rounds of negotiations have already taken place, with the first phase initially targeted for completion by fall 2025.

This is Goyal’s second major trade mission to the US this year. He previously visited Washington in May, holding extensive talks with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. His current trip marks the first senior-level trade engagement since the controversial tariff measures were introduced.

Officials familiar with the discussions indicated that progress is being made on multiple tracks at once, signaling that both governments remain committed to advancing their strategic economic partnership despite the strains of recent trade frictions.

(With inputs from ANI)