India-Peru FTA Unlikely Soon Amid Market Access Concerns, Says Piyush Goyal
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said negotiations for the proposed India-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) are unlikely to conclude anytime soon, citing concerns over market access for certain products.
Addressing reporters on the sidelines of the 17th Toy Biz International B2B Exhibition, Goyal said, “There are certain concerns. There are many products where we cannot offer them market access. I do not see Peru FTA happening very soon.”
Negotiations for the proposed India-Peru FTA began in 2017. Bilateral trade between the two countries increased 67.5 per cent to $10 billion in 2025-26 from $5.98 billion in 2024-25. During 2025-26, India's exports stood at $1.4 billion, while imports reached $8.87 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $7.47 billion.
Key Indian exports to Peru include motor vehicles/cars, cotton yarn and pharmaceuticals, while imports comprise gold, copper ores and concentrates.
According to experts, duty concessions on gold, which account for about 90 per cent of India's imports from Peru, could be one of the most challenging aspects of the proposed agreement. In 2025-26, India's gold imports from Peru rose 78.45 per cent to $7.9 billion from $4.43 billion in 2024-25.
India-Canada CEPA Talks
Goyal said a delegation of Indian officials will travel to Canada for the next round of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
Providing an update on the discussions, he said, “The Canada FTA is progressing well...our team is going on Monday for next round of negotiations. We are trying that we should conclude it in the next six months or so.”
The two sides concluded the second round of CEPA negotiations on May 8.
The negotiations are aimed at increasing bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030. Trade between India and Canada reached $7.95 billion in 2025-26, registering growth of 8.22 per cent from $8.7 billion in 2024-25 ($4.67 billion in exports and $3.28 billion in imports).
Canada has a population of 41.65 million people (2025) and a GDP of $2.34 trillion at purchasing power parity.
India's key exports to Canada include pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, seafood, cotton garments, electronic goods and chemicals. Major imports include pulses, pearls and semi-precious stones, coal, fertilisers, paper and petroleum crude.
India's services exports to Canada include telecommunications, computer and information services, and other business services. Canada is also home to more than 4,25,000 Indian students and a large Indian community.
Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Brij Mohan Mishra, is the chief negotiator from the Indian side, while Bruce Christie is Canada's chief negotiator.
India-EU TTC Meeting
Goyal also announced that on July 13, he will travel with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw to Brussels for the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting.
Speaking about the meeting, Goyal said, “Our effort is that it becomes a supplement to the FTA which we have finalized and will help us to smoothen the edges and make it easier to implement the FTA going forward.”
India and the 27-nation European Union have announced the conclusion of negotiations for the trade pact, and both sides are currently completing the legal scrubbing of the agreement. The pact is expected to be signed by the end of this year and implemented in 2027.
The second meeting of the India-EU TTC was held on February 28, 2025, co-chaired on the Indian side by the three ministers.