India is focusing on core trade issues such as import duty and non-tariff barriers while pursuing free trade agreements (FTAs) to ensure faster outcomes from these negotiations, Union commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Wednesday.

The comment is significant as it comes at a time India is negotiating trade deals with the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU).

Barthwal, while speaking at CII’s India-LAC (Latin America and Caribbean) Business Conclave in New Delhi, said if it takes “so much time” to conclude negotiations for these agreements businesses lose interest.

“So we are also reviewing some of these issues in the department (of commerce) as well, as we are talking to our partners who are doing FTAs with us that why can’t we first look at the core trade issues, and even if it is early tranche, or even if it is first phase of that comprehensive agreement, but let there be some kind of outcome which should come out of these negotiations,” he said.

“So we are taking that approach, that let us first focus on the core trade issues,” Barthwal went on, adding that the core trade issues are tariffs, non-tariff barriers, SPS (sanitary and phyto-sanitary) barriers, and regulatory factors.

The free trade deal negotiations with the UK and EU have been going on since 2022, but are yet to materialise. In the case of the US, a multi-sector trade deal is being worked out in phases.

With US President Donald Trump declaring a trade war and creating an uncertainty over global trade, the Indian establishment is trying its best to seal the FTAs soon to minimise the possibility of any major impact on its external trade.

Barthwal said there is a need for India and the LAC region to follow this approach of addressing the core trade issues.

“Look at the core trade issues with you, and start working in that direction. I think that is going to be a great way forward by which we will be able to achieve many things.”