India engaged with 50 countries to support exporters hit by US tariffs, says Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the Indian government is actively engaging with at least 50 countries through its diplomatic missions to identify new markets for exporters affected by steep US tariffs.

In an exclusive interview to Network18, Goyal said, “Our Missions are working in 50 countries which we have identified through data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) on the data of import and export of all other nations to identify where our products can be offered. Besides, we are also identifying what we can buy from these countries, as they too might be in similar stress.”

Goyal said the government is also actively reaching out to Indian conglomerates to support local exporters by sourcing products and offering them at affordable prices.

“We recognise the sectors which could be facing stress and hence, we are trying to make connects for them. For example, when we recognised that the garments industry could face some stress, I called up the Tatas who run the Zudio and the Westside stores,” Goyal said.

He added that the government is also working on reforms to ease domestic sales for exporters.

“I am going to be talking to all other high street malls or retail large-scale outlets to see if they can help garment exporters by buying their products and making it available at affordable prices. We are trying to make it easier so that they can supply to the domestic market, it is one of the reforms we are working on,” the minister added.

Highlighting international outreach efforts, Goyal said he metUAE Minister of Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi on August 29 to boost bilateral trade.

“We identified people who can help our textile exporters get an entry into the Gulf market and into all of Africa,” he said, adding, “On September 18-19 we have the high-level task force on investments dialogue in UAE where I will be taking a large business delegation, identifying sectors where we can support our exporters to get new markets.”

Goyal said to help seafood exporters tap new buyers, the ministry will send delegations to Singapore and the UAE.

He added that Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, during his visit to New Delhi on Thursday, committed to importing more chicken, eggs, and poultry from India.

On free trade agreements, Goyal said India is fast-tracking multiple deals.

“We are doing a second tranche in Australia. We will soon announce the closure of our FTA with Oman. New Zealand will also close by the end of the year. My commerce secretary was in Brussels last two days and the European Union (EU) trading team will be here in New Delhi on Monday for the next round of negotiations for the India-EU FTA,” he said.

He added that EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will be in New Delhi from September 11 to 13 to push forward the agreement.

“We have the four-nation EFTA which comes into effect as early as October 1. UK has been executed. We also have Chile and Peru and Eurasia terms of reference have been finalised. In first week of October I am in Qatar to finalise the terms of reference for a trade agreement with them. Similarly, Latin America also has huge potential for our products,” Goyal said.