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Auckland: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal Wednesday said India and the US are continuing discussions to seal a proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) and that the talks are advancing smoothly."Talks are going well...and are continuously going on," said Goyal. "There are many sensitive issues, many serious issues, so it is natural that it will take some time," the minister said when asked about the progress of negotiations for the trade deal.Both countries have completed five rounds of talks so far for the first phase of the BTA.A team of Indian officials, led by commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal, was in Washington last month for talks with their US counterparts. The three-day talks ended on October 17.This February, leaders of India and the US directed officials to negotiate the proposed BTA, the first tranche of which they aim to conclude by this Fall.Live EventsThese deliberations are crucial as US President Donald Trump has imposed a steep 50% tariff on Indian goods, half of which are penal tariffs for New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian crude oil.The proposed pact aims to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the current $191 billion.The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth straight year in fiscal 2024-25, with bilateral trade at $131.84 billion. However, the impact of the high tariffs saw India's merchandise exports to the US decline 11.9% to $5.46 billion in September.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Read More News onIndia US bilateral trade agreementPiyush GoyalBTA negotiationsUS trade tariffs on IndiaIndia US trade relationsbilateral trade target 2030merchandise exports to USUS India trade talksRajesh AgrawalIndian goods tariff (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onIndia US bilateral trade agreementPiyush GoyalBTA negotiationsUS trade tariffs on IndiaIndia US trade relationsbilateral trade target 2030merchandise exports to USUS India trade talksRajesh AgrawalIndian goods tariff(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless Prime ExclusivesInvestment IdeasStock Report PlusePaperWealth Edition123View all Stories
