India’s Goyal Heads to US for Trade Talks, G20 Ministers Meeting

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal departs Tuesday on a seven-day US trip, with finalizing an interim trade pact agreed to earlier this year topping his agenda alongside meetings with G20 counterparts.

Goyal will attend the G20 Trade Ministers’ meeting in Milwaukee from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 and hold bilateral talks with his US counterpart to “advance a balanced and mutually beneficial” trade deal, the ministry said late Monday.

New Delhi and Washington have yet to sign the interim deal agreed on earlier this year, with negotiations continuing over tariff rates. Talks face fresh complications from a new law giving President Donald Trump the power to impose levies of as much as 100% on countries that buy Russian oil and gas.

India has earlier warned that the US measures could hurt bilateral ties and disrupt global energy markets. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar last week raised concerns about the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Goyal will also meet chief executives of American companies in manufacturing, consumer goods, agri-business, retail and technology, the statement said.