NEW DELHI, 30 September 2021, (TON): According to the latest update by the US Trade Representative’s office “India-US bilateral trade in goods and services stood at $146.1 billion in 2019.”

Union minister Piyush Goyal proposed an ambitious target of $1 trillion for India-US bilateral trade over the next 10 years even as he expressed frustration over the failure of the two sides to conclude an agreement despite multiple rounds of talks with the former Donald Trump-led US administration.

India-US bilateral trade in goods and services stood at $146.1 billion in 2019, according to the latest update by the US Trade Representative’s office.

Goyal said at the virtual annual leadership summit of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, an advocacy group “India and the US can be two countries which should be looking at a balanced future trade of upwards of $1 trillion dollars in the next 10 years.”

He added “unless we keep some very ambitious targets, we’ll never get there. I’m happy to look at a trillion dollar target for the next 10 years between the US and India. I’m happy to engage with the US, and look for expanding our economic partnership.”

India-US trade is up against another ambitious target, one that was fixed by President Joe Biden when he was vice-president in the administration of president Barack Obama. In a speech at the Bombay Stock Exchange during his visit to India in 2012, Biden had suggested a “five-fold” increase in the volume of the bilateral trade, which had then stood at $100 billion.