New Delhi [India], May 20 (ANI): Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held productive discussions with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, focusing on expediting the first tranche of the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement.

Taking to the social media platform X, Goyal shared an image of the two leaders shaking hands, stating, 'Good discussions with Secretary Howard Lutnick towards expediting the first tranche of India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement.'

Earlier in May, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister stated that the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the US was moving progressively in the right direction.

'Conversation with the US is going very well. We were the first country to start the conversation. Conversion is going extremely well. We are moving progressively in the right direction,' said Union Minister Piyush Goyal, speaking at the Columbia India Energy Dialogue in New Delhi.

'I think the US and India are totally complementary to each other. We are a perfect fit, where there is hardly anything, except one or two products, where we compete; otherwise, we are totally too complementary. At USD 83,000 per capita income, what the US can produce can never compete with Indian goods made in India. And there are so many technologies and so many innovations and products which are not available in India, which I would buy from the United States rather than buying from many other non-market economies,' the Union Minister said.'

'Frankly, this is a partnership that's truly contemporary, a win-win for both and will be the defining partnership in the coming months and years, given the very sheer scale of the American economy today and the delta of opportunity that India offers as it grows from a 4 trillion-dollar economy to a USD 35 trillion economy by 2047,' Goyal added.

India and the US aim to ink the deal by the fall of 2025. India's exports reportedly rose 11.6 per cent to USD 86.5 billion, while imports rose 7.4 per cent to USD 45.3 billion in 2024-25, resulting in a higher trade surplus of USD 41 billion. The US administration imposes reciprocal tariffs on countries with a sizable trade deficit.

During their meeting in mid-February 2025, President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi resolved to expand trade and investment to make their citizens more prosperous, nations stronger, economies more innovative, and supply chains more resilient.

They resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security, and job creation. To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade - 'Mission 500' - to more than double total bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030. (ANI)