Developed world more reliable trading partner than China, says Piyush Goyal

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Friday (April 11, 2025) indicated a clear preference for India to work with European and North American partners for international trade instead of China. “Even when it was open [for Chinese firms to invest in India], not too much Chinese investment has come, nor are we encouraging any significant investment coming in from China at all at the moment,” Mr. Goyal said, speaking at Carnegie India’s Global Technology Summit.

“Our effort is to integrate our economies with the developed world, who believe in fair play, who believe in honest business practices and where we get an equal opportunity to do business and invest,” Mr. Goyal said. “Everything will be based on reciprocity. Everything will be based on mutual trust and mutual benefit.” Indians were insulated from the worst of impacts of U.S. tariffs, Mr. Goyal said, recalling that Indian captains of industry were optimistic at a meeting with him held before a 90-day pause to the measure was announced.

Mr. Goyal also hit out at China’s classification of itself as developing, without explicitly naming the country. “If countries with a per capita income of $50,000 and if I’m not mistaken, maybe one with $100,000, chooses to call itself a developing nation, then obviously it is going to cause angst,” he said. Recent developments vindicated India’s decision to not join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership grouping, he said.

Bilateral agreements

Mr. Goyal abstained from putting any hard timeline on concluding the U.S.–India bilateral trade agreement. “We aspire for [indicative] timelines, but at the end of the day it has to be a win-win for both sides,” Mr. Goyal said. “It has to be a fair, equitable and balanced solution. Just to meet a deadline, you cannot compromise national interest.”

On Europe, Mr. Goyal hit out at climate standards and other requirements typically demanded by the bloc.

“There will be two areas on which the European Union will have to rethink: one is these non-trade issues, which they seek to superimpose into the trade agenda. Unless they get that out of their system — and the European Commission will need to reflect on it — they will find it very difficult to get a trade agreement with anybody whatsoever. Any self-respecting country cannot sign up on commitments which are irrational, beyond the realm of trade, and where the rest of the world has been responsible for the problem in the first place and are sought to be put on our head as if it’s our responsibility to resolve.”