Goyal meets Greer, pushes for early conclusion of India-US trade deal | Economy & Policy News

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers’ meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as India and the US push to conclude an interim trade agreement.

 

Goyal is on a week-long visit to the US that concludes on Tuesday.

 

“Had a productive discussion with USTR Greer towards early conclusion of a mutually beneficial interim agreement under the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement,” Goyal said in a post on X on Thursday.

 

The meeting came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with US President Donald Trump by phone and reviewed bilateral cooperation in trade, defence, energy, critical technologies and other areas.

  

It was also the first meeting between the two trade leaders after the US Congress passed a law authorising Trump to impose a tariff of up to 100 per cent on India over its energy purchases from Russia. Trump is yet to announce a final decision on the tariff, including its rate and coverage.

 

Goyal and Greer also exchanged views on the G20 deliberations under the US presidency. The four areas identified by Washington for the ministerial are the weaponisation of food, structural excess capacity and production, the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle and forced labour in global supply chains.

 

On food, Greer said coercive trade actions involving food, agricultural products and agricultural inputs could have serious consequences for economies and their people. Goyal said the shared objective should be to ensure food remained a source of security, stability and cooperation.

 

He also called for a distinction between the “weaponisation” of food supply chains and legitimate measures adopted by countries to pursue domestic policy objectives and address food-security needs.

 

The G20 also discussed structural excess capacity, particularly in steel. The Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity agreed on a joint framework that calls for greater use of tariffs and fewer subsidies to address excess capacity.

 

Discussions on excess capacity and forced labour come as Washington pursues Section 301 investigations against India and other economies. In July, USTR determined a 10 per cent Section 301 duty for India in its forced-labour investigation. The separate investigation into structural excess capacity is yet to conclude.

 

MFN treatment was also on the agenda. Greer said unconditional MFN treatment could constrain economies’ ability to respond to distortive policies and adapt to changing market conditions.

 

On the sidelines of the G20 meeting, Goyal also met European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic to review progress on the India-EU trade deal. He discussed the deal with Poland’s Minister of Finance and Economy Andrzej Domanski as well.

 

Goyal also met Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services Márcio Fernando Elias Rosa to discuss expanding India’s preferential trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc. He met Mexico’s Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard to discuss expanding India-Mexico trade and investment ties.