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Informist, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026

 

--Minister Goyal: India, EU to safeguard farmers, MSMEs interests under FTA 
--Minister Goyal: India-EU reaffirmed commitment to rule-based trade deal 
--Minister Goyal: Held high-level FTA talks with EU trade commissioner 

 

NEW DELHI – Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who is currently visiting Brussels, held high-level talks with EU Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Maros Sefcovic for a mutually beneficial free trade agreement. Both leaders reaffirmed commitment to a rule-based trading framework, Goyal said after the meeting.

 

"During this dialogue, we deliberated across key areas of the proposed agreement," Goyal said in a social media post on X. "We reaffirmed our commitment to a rules-based trading framework and a modern economic partnership that safeguards the interests of farmers and MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) while integrating Indian industries into global supply chains."

 

While the two sides have missed the target of concluding the trade deal by the end of 2025, negotiations are in a very advanced stage. Last month, Indian Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that now the most difficult issues are left on the negotiation table. While Agrawal did not specify what these issues were, the EU's proposal of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism has been a major point of contention between the two parties.

 

Goyal's visit to Brussels also comes right after the EU fully implemented its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Since Jan. 1, EU importers, who since October 2023 had been required only to submit quarterly reports on greenhouse gas emissions embedded in their imports, are required to pay a levy based on the carbon content of their shipments. The carbon tax currently applies to iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, and electricity entering the EU.

 

Now it is to be seen how India and the EU take forward the trade talks for a mutually beneficial agreement. Over the past two years, Goyal has repeatedly and publicly criticised the EU's climate regulations, describing them as trade barriers. Just a few months ago, he had said the bloc would need to reconsider its insistence on including non-trade issues such as climate regulations if it wanted to conclude the FTA with India "amicably". "Any self-respecting decent country cannot sign up to commitments that are irrational and beyond the realm of trade," Goyal had said.

 

The EU accounts for over 15% of India's total outbound shipments. India exported $78.85 billion worth of goods to the EU in the financial year 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) and had a trade surplus of $15.17 billion with the bloc.  End
 

US$1 = INR 90.19

 

Reported by Krity Ambey

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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