Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has dismissed reports, which indicated India was planning to hold off trade deal with the United States for several months, reported news agencies.Speaking at the NXT Summit-2026 in New Delhi, Goyal said, “There is some absolutely baseless report circulating from today morning…which you should trash. We have a very good trade agreement with the United States of America.”Goyal said both India and the US would benefit from the agreement. “We have been able to protect all our sensitive sectors like agriculture. India’s interests have been safeguarded with regards to GM products, along with rice, corn, maize, soya bean, dairy and poultry. It is a very powerful agreement, which is great for both India and America as every trade deal should be,” he said.The Commerce Minister further emphasised how the agreement would benefit India in the long run. “The deal also helps us get the best of technologies from America so that we can become the data centre of the world and can have large investments post the successful AI Summit,” he said.Earlier, officials of the Commerce Ministry stated that there was no delay in bilateral engagement and that India and the US were still working towards a mutually beneficial trade agreement.A framework for an interim agreement on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade was reached between the US and India last month. It reaffirmed the country’s commitment to the wider US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations, which were started on February 13, 2025, by PM Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump. The BTA will support more robust supply chains and include additional market access commitments.Meanwhile, Goyal further said the free trade agreement between India and the UK was expected to be implemented from mid-April this year, reported agencies.Last year on July 24, India and the UK took a major step in building a stronger economic partnership with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Under the deal, about 99 percent of Indian exports will make their way to the UK market duty-free, while the tariffs on British goods will be lowered in India.