India’s trade policy is calibrated with economic growth path: Piyush Goyal

India’s trade policy is calibrated with its economic growth trajectory as it aims to achieve a target of $2 trillion in exports by 2030, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

“Our trade policy is calibrated based on our development journey, yet open for expansion. We will be doing $2 trillion of exports by 2030 and I have no doubt we will achieve it,” the minister said at a media event in New Delhi.

Goyal said that India had pulled out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2019 due to stakeholder concerns and to protect the Indian market from being flooded by cheap Chinese goods.

He further stated that if India had not withdrawn from the RCEP, the country would not have scripted the growth story it has in recent years.

The flood of sub-standard, low-quality goods coming in from certain geographies would have killed the investment climate in the country, he added.

Goyal pointed out that even America and Europe still levy high tariffs on several products.

At the same time, he said that India needs to internationalise its economy and look at a greater degree of engagement with the world and a high growth in exports.

The minister cited the recently signed European Free Trade Association (EFTA), in which Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, have committed an investment of $100 billion to create 1 million direct jobs in India in the next 15 years in exchange for market access.

He also said that India is open to being a part of trading blocs which include China, if the neighbouring country ensures its economic policy is transparent and complies with WTO rules.