New Delhi, Jul 31: Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that the country will take all necessary steps to protect national interest while negotiating trade deals with countries, as US President Donald Trump announced to slap 25 per cent tariffs, along with a penalty on India, from August 1.

Addressing the Parliament, Goyal also dismissed the US President’s "dead economy" comment, saying India has risen from 11th to the fifth-largest economy in 10 years, and remains the fastest-growing economy in the world.

According to the Commerce Minister, international agencies look at India as the bright spot in the world economy.

"India has signed mutually beneficial FTAs with the UAE, the UK, Australia and the EFTA nations. We want to achieve such FTAs with more countries," said Goyal, adding that India, through its reforms and MSMEs and industry's efforts, is currently the 4th largest economy and will soon become the third-largest economy.

"We are constantly working towards protecting and promoting our farmers. The government is confident of achieving Viksit Bharat goals. India is progressing towards ‘Make in India’ with self-confidence," the minister said.

According to the minister, India and the US decided to talk over a mutually-beneficial trade deal aimed to be completed by the fall of this year.

"On April 2, 2025, the US President issued an executive order on reciprocal tariffs – a 10 per cent baseline duty in effect since April 5, 2025. With a 10 per cent baseline tariff, a total of 26 per cent tariff was announced for India. Full country-specific additional tariff was scheduled to come into effect on April 9, 2025. But on April 10, this was extended initially for 90 days and then extended till August 1," he said.

"In March 2025, India and the US started talks for a mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The goal was to finish the first stage of the Agreement by October-November 2025," Goyal added.

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) World Economic Outlook (WEO) said this week that India is projected to see 6.4 per cent GDP growth in FY26 and FY27, reflecting a more benign external environment than assumed in the April reference forecast.

The IMF revised upwards its outlook for India’s GDP growth for the current fiscal by 20 basis points (bps) to 6.4 per cent. The global agency also revised upwards its growth forecast for FY27 by 10 bps to 6.4 per cent.

The Commerce Ministry said in an earlier statement that India and the US have been engaged in negotiations on concluding a fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement over the last few months.

"We remain committed to that objective. The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs," it said in the statement.

The Centre further stated that it will take all steps "necessary to secure our national interest, as has been the case with other trade agreements, including the latest Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the UK".

(IANS)

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