If US Trade Rep 'Very Happy', Then Trade Deal Should Be Signed: Piyush Goyal

The US Trade Representative should be "signing on the dotted line" if they are "very happy" with India's offers, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, while addressing the press in Mumbai.

Goyal's remarks—a rare comment on the US commentary on trade talks—comes two days after USTR Jamieson Greer told a Senate Appropriations Committee that the recent offers made by India for a trade pact are the "best that the US has ever received."

Goyal, however, noted that a timeline cannot be imposed on the finalisation of India-US trade deal. His remarks came shortly after Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran hinted at March closure.

"I don’t know what the CEA has said and I cannot put a timeline," Goyal told reporters in Mumbai, at sidelines of the Italy-India Business Forum.

"A deal is only done when both sides benefit. If we do it in a hurry, then there could be mistakes," he underlined.

Goyal stressed that India is negotiating trade pacts with a "sense of urgency". The country is only refraining from putting a deadline for the closure on any deal.

The trade talks with all negotiating partners are done behind closed doors, the minister said, adding that as soon as those issues are resolved, a fair equitable trade agreement gets finalised.

Earlier on Thursday, Nageswaran was reported by Bloomberg as saying that the India-US trade deal could be reached by the end of this financial year.

"I was hoping something would be done by the end of November, but it has turned out to be elusive," Nageswaran said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "That’s why it is difficult to give a timeline on this. However, I would be surprised if we don’t have it sealed by the end of the financial year."

Notably, India and the US have been locked in trade negotiations since earlier this year. The talks derailed briefly in August, after the US slapped tariffs as high as 50% on Indian imports. This includes 25% punitive levies for New Delhi's continued purchase of crude oil from Moscow.

The talks resumed in September, with expectations of a first tranche of trade deal, which addresses the reciprocal tariffs, to be inked by the year-end.