China shift not linked to US trade talks: Piyush Goyal at ET World Leaders Forum

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal spoke with Deepshikha Sikarwar about tariffs and trade among other matters of the moment at the ET World Leaders Forum. Edited excerpts:

With the global trade sector witnessing tectonic shifts, are you able to get good sleep? Many in this room definitely are unable to, with just days left (for US tariffs)...

I sleep very well. In fact, I think I sleep better than I used to earlier.

Can those present in the room also (sleep better)?

Absolutely. India has so much resilience. and strength. India is full of possibilities-the world's fastest-growing economy. We have strong economic fundamentals.

What should we expect in a few days?

As a chartered accountant, I audit and report on matters that have already happened and, for the future, we make intelligent projections. At the present juncture, I think you need to ask that to an astrologer.

Are you figuring out some kind of a deal going forward, and is that a possibility which industry leaders should keep in mind?

Amongst the many works at hand, that is one issue which we are addressing with a very open mind, a positive outlook and the confidence that the India-US relationship is very consequential, very important for both countries.

I have been engaged with industry in India and companies from the US working in India. Everybody believes that this is an important engagement relationship at the same time.

I just had a very large businessperson from Mumbai, in my office who told me that I'm an exporter to the US and concerned about the current situation, I'd like to start by telling you that we stand fully with the government of India. We are committed to the nation.

We are working on several alternatives, and super confident that this year will be better than last year. We've seen some shifts in India's own policy or relationship with our northern neighbour...

I think that shift has nothing to do with this current situation. The problem started post Galwan after the agreement was reached on important border issues. We had already started re-engaging, and that was completely unlinked to any matters related to current trade agreement with the US. So I would not like to hyphenate or link the two.


We've done some relaxation in visas and that has received positive response. Your ministry is in charge of Press Note 3, which controls investments. Are you reviewing that?

If you recall, the Press Note 3 came in at a point of time when we had just started seeing a tremendous fall of values post the Covid crisis. Early 2020, when the pandemic hit the world, we saw a massive dip in valuations of companies, both in the stock market and otherwise.

To make sure that we do not lose out strategic values owned by Indians to foreign takeovers, particularly from countries which, at that point of time, were out there buying out stakes in other parts of the world, we decided on Press Note 3. It was a decision which was important at that point of time and also related to our strategic interest in certain sectors which we wanted to remain in Indian hands. And it does not ban FDI (foreign direct investment) from anywhere.

We only take a cautious approach and we have given approval to many companies.

So Press Note 3 will continue?

I can only speak about the situation today. As I said, when the times change, situations change. Decisions can be made to suit the times.

You are in talks with multiple countries, trade blocs. What's happening with the European Union at this juncture? You've set the target as December.

I have not set that target, our leaders set that target-before the year end. We've made very rapid progress. I have always held a very clear vision when we do trade deals, I have to protect national interests.

What's the status of the review of the Asean free trade agreement?

We are certainly very concerned, because domestic industry gives us quite a negative feedback about the Asean trade deal done during the Congress regime. This is a badly negotiated deal by the previous government. We are focused in all the trade deals that we do or choose not to do, like we chose not to do RCEP. That deal would have been the death knell of Indian industry.

You just presented Jan Vishwas 2.0 in the Parliament. The PM has spoken about the next generation of reforms. What reforms could these be?

Tons and tons. I would urge Economic Times and all the world leaders here... We are looking for ideas big and small, every conceivable experience that any of you has had.

I would urge ET to run a campaign on this and crowdsource the various possibilities to decriminalise laws. We would like to decriminalise as many laws as we can, reduce regulatory burden on industry. Maybe we won't be able to deliver 100% but we'll make a sincere effort...We have decriminalised 355 sections in Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0, I want to take it up to 1,355. The select committee is going to be seeking suggestions. If required, I'll introduce a completely new bill.

Can we expect policy interventions in the export front especially for labor intensive sectors?

We are looking at GST revamp. We'll see how we can support many of these labor intensive sectors, like food processing, textile through the GST framework to give a boost to domestic demand. Our ministry and different line ministries are already looking at complementarity of our strength areas with other economies.