On Thursday, Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said the first phase of the India-US trade agreement has been finalised and is currently undergoing legal drafting.
Goyal expressed hope that the first tranche would be finalised soon and operationalised once India secures a competitive advantage over its peer countries.
“The US bilateral trade agreement's first tranche has been finalised and it is going through final contours, the legal drafting, and we hope to be able to finalise that soon and operationalise that once we get the competitive advantage over our peer countries,” Goyal said.
Goyal also said that the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union is expected to be signed in December, and would more likely to come in force in feburary or March next year.
The proposed India-EU trade pact is expected to strengthen economic ties between the two sides, while the India-US agreement remains in the legal drafting stage ahead of its proposed operationalisation.
