First Tranche Of India-US Trade Deal Finalised, Draft To Be Out Soon

The first phase of a trade deal between India and the United States has been finalised and is undergoing legal drafting, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. "The US bilateral trade agreement first tranche has been finalised. It's going through final contours, the legal drafting, and we hope to be able to finalise that soon and operationalise that once we get comparable advantage or competitive advantage over our peer countries," Goyal, addressing the SRCC Centenary Conclave in Delhi, said. Later, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that the negotiations on the US trade pact are moving in the right direction. "Probably we are in a very good zone. We anticipate closing the deal and signing the deal at the earliest possible time," he told reporters.