India and EU to Hold Talks Next Week in Race to Seal Trade Pact
(Bloomberg) -- India and the European Union negotiators will meet next week to iron out sensitive issues, including trade barriers on steel and automobiles, as both sides race to finalize a trade deal by the end of the year.
An EU team led by a top trade official will visit New Delhi next week with the “objective of achieving a constructive conclusion,” India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement Wednesday.
India trade minister Piyush Goyal met the EU’s Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maros Sefcovic, in Brussels this week to advance the trade talks, which leaders of both sides have agreed to conclude by the end of this year.
The two sides have “significantly” reduced outstanding issues, Goyal said earlier this week. Still, some of the bloc’s regulations, including its carbon border tax, require further discussions, according to India’s statement on Wednesday.
“Both sides agreed to work closely to finalize the non-sensitive industrial tariff lines,” the statement said. “They also agreed that issues related to steel, auto, CBAM, and other EU regulations still require further discussion, as these issues have higher sensitivities.”
India and the EU are eager to strike a trade deal giving easier access to each other’s markets at a time when US President Donald Trump’s tariff measures are reshaping global trade flows. New Delhi has been hit with a punitive 50% tariff on exports to the US, partly due to its Russian oil purchases, while the EU faces mounting pressure from Washington to offer further trade concessions.
In Brussels, Goyal also discussed the need for easier access to EU markets for Indian goods manufactured in labor-intensive sectors.
The EU and India have been discussing a free trade deal for nearly two decades, but the global tariff uncertainty has given talks new urgency. The South Asian nation is yet to secure a deal with the US, though an official in New Delhi said last week that an agreement is in sight.
New Delhi has also fast-tracked free trade talks with several nations — including New Zealand, Chile, Peru and Oman — to make up for the loss of access to the American market due to the high tariffs.
India has already signed a comprehensive free trade agreement with the UK this year, signaling that it is open to modern and ambitious deals.
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