India-U.S. trade deal off the table for now: Piyush Goyal

India has begun working on an free trade agreement with Bangladesh, and is close to sealing an early harvest deal with Australia, says the Union Minister

Hopes of an India-U.S. trade pact are off the table for now, with the Joe Biden administration conveying to India that it is not interested in a free trade agreement (FTA), Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. The minister also said that India has begun working on an FTA with Bangladesh, and is close to sealing an early harvest deal with Australia ‘which has almost agreed’ on the matter, with a similar deal being worked out with the U.K.. “The US, as of now, has kind of indicated that they are not looking for new trade agreements, but we will look at working with them on market access issues on both sides,” Mr. Goyal said in an interaction with exporters, adding that even resolution of these issues will boost outbound trade to the U.S..