India-US trade deal will protect farmers' interests: Goyal

New Delhi: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said India's bilateral trade deal with the US would protect all sensitive interests of the country, asserting that people would "celebrate" the agreement once its details are made public.

He said that the opposition parties who are criticising the agreement lack understanding and knowledge about the subject.

Goyal expressed confidence that when the details of the deal are released, the people of India will recognise that the sensitive interests of farmers and other stakeholders have not been compromised and that India will be placed at a strong comparative advantage.

The Congress has raised concerns on multiple occasions over the deal. It has demanded that the India-US interim trade agreement be put on hold.

India and the US, in February, announced finalisation of the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA). However, changes in the tariff landscape in the US have led to further negotiations on the pact.

India is seeking lower tariffs for its goods in the US market than its competitor nations such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia.

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The Hans India