India will launch negotiations for a preferential trade agreement with Mexico next week, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday, as the government steps up efforts to widen preferential market access for its exporters and diversify trade amid global uncertainty.
The Mexico pact
Speaking at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry's annual session in New Delhi, Goyal said negotiations with several trading partners were progressing. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal had visited Mexico in the last week of September, where the terms of reference for the pact were finalised.
Mexico is an important market for Indian exporters of automobiles and auto components, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, chemicals and textiles. Two-way merchandise trade totalled $8.74 billion in 2024, with Indian exports at $5.73 billion against imports of $3.01 billion, leaving India a trade surplus of $2.72 billion.
Key Indian exports include light vehicles worth $0.88 billion, base metals, auto parts, mechanical machinery, textiles and clothing, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Key imports from Mexico are crude petroleum oils worth $1.7 billion, smartphones and gold.
The talks matter because Mexico raised its most-favoured-nation import tariffs from 5 per cent to 50 per cent from January 1, 2026 on 1,455 tariff lines, a move aimed largely at curbing Chinese imports. India's Commerce Ministry has estimated the measure affects about $2 billion of Indian exports, particularly in automobiles, auto parts, textiles, iron and steel, plastics, leather and footwear. A preferential pact would give Indian exporters a shield against those higher duties. A PTA covers select items, unlike a broader free-trade agreement.
The wider trade push
Goyal also said the interim trade agreement with the United States, for which a framework was announced in February, will be finalised keeping changed circumstances in mind, without elaborating on those circumstances. He had earlier this month met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the G20 trade ministers' meeting in Milwaukee.
Trade ministers of the UK and Canada are expected in India next week. UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is scheduled to visit from October 12 to 16 with a 200-member delegation of companies, banks and universities for the India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting, after the India-UK trade agreement came into force on July 15. Goyal said talks with Canada are progressing at a faster pace, while negotiations are also underway with Israel, Chile, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the South African Customs Union group and the Eurasian Economic Union.
Sources: The Financial Express, CNBC-TV18
The Mexico pact
Speaking at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry's annual session in New Delhi, Goyal said negotiations with several trading partners were progressing. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal had visited Mexico in the last week of September, where the terms of reference for the pact were finalised.
Mexico is an important market for Indian exporters of automobiles and auto components, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, chemicals and textiles. Two-way merchandise trade totalled $8.74 billion in 2024, with Indian exports at $5.73 billion against imports of $3.01 billion, leaving India a trade surplus of $2.72 billion.
Key Indian exports include light vehicles worth $0.88 billion, base metals, auto parts, mechanical machinery, textiles and clothing, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Key imports from Mexico are crude petroleum oils worth $1.7 billion, smartphones and gold.
The talks matter because Mexico raised its most-favoured-nation import tariffs from 5 per cent to 50 per cent from January 1, 2026 on 1,455 tariff lines, a move aimed largely at curbing Chinese imports. India's Commerce Ministry has estimated the measure affects about $2 billion of Indian exports, particularly in automobiles, auto parts, textiles, iron and steel, plastics, leather and footwear. A preferential pact would give Indian exporters a shield against those higher duties. A PTA covers select items, unlike a broader free-trade agreement.
The wider trade push
Goyal also said the interim trade agreement with the United States, for which a framework was announced in February, will be finalised keeping changed circumstances in mind, without elaborating on those circumstances. He had earlier this month met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the G20 trade ministers' meeting in Milwaukee.
Trade ministers of the UK and Canada are expected in India next week. UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is scheduled to visit from October 12 to 16 with a 200-member delegation of companies, banks and universities for the India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting, after the India-UK trade agreement came into force on July 15. Goyal said talks with Canada are progressing at a faster pace, while negotiations are also underway with Israel, Chile, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the South African Customs Union group and the Eurasian Economic Union.
Sources: The Financial Express, CNBC-TV18
