India–US trade ties: Piyush Goyal says India secured best deal among competing nations

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said India has secured the best trade deal with the United States among competing nations, highlighting the strength of the economic and strategic partnership between the two countries, reported PTI.Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2026 in New Delhi, Goyal said India and the US share a “very powerful” relationship, adding that the world’s largest economy remains an important partner for New Delhi."It has been a fantastic journey. We have the best of relations. You would have observed that through the last year, President Donald Trump has always had the best things to say about India as a country, and about Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi.

We have fantastic relations with our counterparts there."Even within your family, sometimes you can have one or two misunderstandings. It's a part of the course. I think it's a very, very powerful relationship that the US and India share. And we got the best deal amongst all the nations with whom we compete," Goyal said.He added that the two countries are strategic partners and the largest democracies in the world, noting that the US, with a $30 trillion economy, remains central to global trade.

"We have a large responsibility cast on both our nations. They are the world's largest economy, USD 30 trillion economy, nobody can wish them away," he said.Explaining the significance of trade agreements, Goyal said such deals are meant to secure preferential access for a country’s goods and services compared to competitors."What's a trade deal? You are trying to get a preference or a preferential access for yourself, your goods, your services, compared to your competitor.

And we got the best deal amongst all the competing nations. I mean whether it's in our neighbourhood Pakistan or Bangladesh. If we look at the Asian region, we got the best deal amongst all of the competitors..." he said.The minister added that the India-US partnership extends beyond trade, encompassing technology cooperation, critical minerals, defence ties and investments."There's a huge technology overlay on it. There's a huge critical minerals partnership, there's a defense partnership, there's a huge amount of investments that flow into India from the US.

So it's a partnership of two countries which is going to define the future," he said.His remarks come as India and the US have finalised the framework for the first phase of a bilateral trade agreement, under which Washington had announced it would reduce reciprocal tariffs on India to 18 per cent.However, after the US Supreme Court struck down the tariffs, President Donald Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all countries from February 24 for 150 days.A meeting between the chief negotiators of the two countries to finalise the legal text of the agreement has also been postponed.Under the proposed deal, India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on US industrial goods and a range of American agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, wine and spirits, among others.India has also indicated that it plans to purchase $500 billion worth of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal over the next five years.Goyal also referred to the nine free trade agreements finalised by the Modi government, saying they were negotiated while safeguarding domestic interests."These nine free trade agreements, I can say on record with all the courage that I have on my command with all the responsibility that in not a single trade deal, has India compromised on any sensitivity of any of our stakeholders," he said.Opposition parties, however, have alleged that the government has compromised the interests of farmers in the India-US trade pact.Goyal said opening the auto sector under certain FTAs would expand consumer choice and create employment opportunities."Demand for this industry is growing at an average of 8 per cent. So you can imagine how much more scope we have to create jobs," he said.He added that while companies from FTA partner countries may initially export cars to test the Indian market, they would eventually need to manufacture locally once demand is established."Initially they can sell, say, 5,000 cars or 10,000 cars, to test the market, find the distraction -- and then come and manufacture here," he said.He added that the government’s broader objective is to build a global network of trade partnerships through multiple FTAs.