Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Brussels on January 8-9 as India and the European Union intensify efforts to conclude the free trade agreement which has reached its most difficult phase.
This visit should give new impetus to the negotiations, which both parties wish to conclude as soon as possible.
During his two-day stopover in the Belgian capital, Goyal will meet with Maroš Šefčovič, Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner of the European Union.
Ahead of the Brussels meetings, the minister will also travel to Liechtenstein on January 7.
The timing of the visit is important as negotiators are working on the final and most sensitive issues of the proposed India-EU free trade agreement.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal recently termed the current phase as “the most difficult”, emphasizing that both sides are making concerted efforts to bridge differences and seal the deal.
One of the key issues under discussion is the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which could impose tariffs of 20 to 35 percent on Indian exports of steel, aluminum and cement from January next year.
The 16th round of negotiations, held from December 3 to 9, covered critical chapters, including trade in goods and services, investment, rules of origin and technical barriers to trade.
Negotiations, relaunched in June 2022 after an eight-year hiatus, stalled in 2013 due to disagreements over market access.
The European Union is currently India’s largest trading partner for goods. Bilateral trade stood at USD 136.53 billion in 2024-25, with Indian exports worth USD 75.85 billion.
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