India confident of better trade ties with US under Donald Trump: Piysuh Goyal

Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday expressed confidence in the resilience of India-US relations as Donald Trump gears up for another term in the White House.

Goyal highlighted the strong bond between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi while asserting he foresaw no challenges concerning trade tariffs.

The US-president elect has often expressed his confidence in the India-US partnership during his tenure at the helm and referred to Modi as a good friend, Goyal said while addressing a press conference. “I think if you don’t jump the gun, we should let the new government come and take charge and express their formal and official views.” 

“He’s (Trump) a friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and I’m sure this friendship will only continue to blossom and grow further,” he added.

Interestingly, Trump, who takes office in January 2025, plans to impose steep tariff hikes of up to 25% on the US’s top three trading partners—Mexico, Canada, and China—on his first day in office to control the US’s rising trade deficit, with its imports outpacing its exports.

The US is one of the few countries with which India enjoys a trade surplus, recording a bilateral merchandise surplus of $35.33 billion in 2023-24, up from $27.69 billion in 2022-23.

The total goods trade between the two nations stood at approximately $119.7 billion during 2023-24, down from $126.41 billion in the previous year.

In comparison, India’s overall merchandise trade deficit was $240.17 billion in 2023-24, down 9.33% from 2022-23’s $264.90 billion.

India’s exports

Meanwhile, Goyal said India’s total exports, including merchandise and services, are expected to cross $800 billion in 2024-25 despite challenges related to the pandemic and geopolitical crises like the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Red Sea crisis.

“India has doubled its exports during Prime Minister Modi’s tenure,” he said.

“I do see before my eyes a further rapid growth in our export income,” he added.

India’s total exports, including goods and services, stood at $776.68 billion in value terms in 2023-24, up from $776.40 billion a year ago, according to the commerce ministry data.

“The various policies that we have come up with, whether it’s an effort to promote industrial corridors and industrial smart cities, whether it’s an effort to reduce our logistics costs, our efforts to create the right ecosystem, to encourage greater exports, both of goods and services are all taken in the direction of making India self-sufficient and giving us a competitive edge in whichever areas we have a strength,” Goyal said.

“It is not necessary that India needs to do everything, but strategic sectors and sectors where we have a competitive edge will be our strength going forward, which we will continue to encourage and continue to grow,” he added.

India-UK FTA

Meanwhile, about the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) talks, Goyal said the UK is ready to speak and take the talks forward after the elections, which saw a change in the government.

Recently, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to relaunch trade talks with India early next year after a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit in Brazil.

The two leaders met last week in Rio de Janeiro, where Downing Street confirmed the UK’s intention to pursue a new strategic partnership with India, including a trade agreement.

Negotiations for the India-UK FTA, which began in January 2022, had stalled after the 14th round of talks as both nations entered their respective general election cycles.

The EU regulations

Goyal termed the European Union’s (EU) green economy regulations unfair and in violation of the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, and said he raised them with his European counterparts like France’s Sophie Primas.

“I strongly raised this issue with my French counterpart and did express India’s deep disappointment on the unilateral regulations and many new regulations that the EU has come out with, which are not acceptable to anybody in the world, which have been opposed by developed countries as much as by developing and less developed countries,” Goyal said.

Under the proposed EUDR, or EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products, operators or traders placing specified commodities on the EU market or exporting them must prove their products do not come from recently deforested land or contribute to forest degradation.

Besides, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduces tariffs on energy-intensive goods imported into the EU.

India has raised concerns that this policy could lead to higher tariffs on carbon-intensive exports such as cement, aluminium, iron, and steel, effectively serving as a unilateral trade barrier.