India in active dialogue for trade pact with US, EU, Oman: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal Thursday said that India is in active dialogue for free trade agreements with nations including the US, Oman, and the EU.

"We have done free trade agreements (FTAs) with many developed countries in the last three years... We are in active dialogue with the US, EU, Chile, Peru, New Zealand, and Oman," the minister told reporters here.

India has implemented trade pacts with Australia, the UAE and EFTA bloc. It has also signed an agreement with the UK.

Goyal said with Brazil also, he has discussed expanding preferential trade agreements from its current level so that "we can" in the future penetrate the South American market in a bigger way.

“It clearly shows that India is the favoured and preferred destination both for investment and for bilateral trade,” Goyal said.

India and Brazil are looking to broaden their preferential trade agreement (PTA) and are eyeing a bilateral trade target of $20 billion by 2030, up from $12 billion in 2024.

Geraldo Alckmin, vice-president and minister of development, industry, trade, and services of Brazil, at the ‘India-Brazil Business Dialogue’ here said that, “This year, exports from India to Brazil grew over 30 per cent, and exports from Brazil are also rising. We will exceed the foreign trade target of $20 billion by 2030. Brazil is opening its doors to Indian investment.”

The Indian official team is in Washington at present to hold trade talks with their US counterparts. The team will be there till 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 (October-November) of 2025. So far, five rounds of negotiations have been completed. Last month, Goyal led an official delegation to New York for trade talks.