After two years of talks, India, US closing in on a trade deal, says minister

India and the United States are closing in on a trade deal, India’s Commerce Minister said on Tuesday, after two years of negotiations.

“In the long term, I believe we have a quick trade deal which has some of the pending matters built up over the last couple of years, which we need to get out of the way quickly. We are almost there,” Piyush Goyal said at the US-India Business Council’s India Ideas Summit, being conducted virtually.

Both New Delhi and Washington should also look at a preferential trade pact with 50 to 100 products and move to a free trade pact in the long term, Goyal said.

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Earlier this month, India had started trade talks with the European Union (EU) and is open to dialogue with the United Kingdom for a free trade agreement, the trade minister had said on.

Goyal said that Asia’s third largest economy is open to engage with the UK for a preferential trade agreement with the ultimate goal of a free trade agreement between the countries.