NEW DELHI: Talks on the India-US trade deal is progressing fast, Union Minister of Commerce and Industries Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.Negotiations are at an advanced stage with Oman as well, while with the European Union and US, they are making fast progress, he said. Goyal, however, refused to give any timeline for the completion of the trade deal even as US President Donald Trump’s extended August 1 deadline for imposition of the reciprocal tariff is less than a week away.According to commerce ministry sources, a delegation of US negotiators is likely to come to India in the second half of August for talks on the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). India faces a 26% reciprocal tariff if there is no trade deal by August 1.Goyal said that the India-UK trade agreement serves as a doorway for India to engage with the developed world. He said that unlike past FTAs under the UPA government, which were often signed with direct competitors like ASEAN nations, the Modi government has focused on FTAs with complementary economies like Mauritius, Australia, UAE, and the EFTA bloc (Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland).“The business opportunities, the quality and cost competitiveness of Indian goods and services, the demographic dividend of our young and aspirational population, the rule of law, and the strength of our democracy all make India a preferred global partner,” he said.
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