Peru awaits India response as trade talks near end, minister says

Peru is awaiting a response to a counterproposal it sent to India as negotiations for a free trade agreement enter their final stretch, with Lima hoping the deal can be signed in 2027, the country's Minister for Trade Rogers Valencia said on Friday.

India has become the second-largest destination for Peruvian exports this year, overtaking the United States, ‌driven mainly ⁠by gold ⁠shipments, according to official data from the ministry.

"Negotiating with India is a fairly lengthy process," Valencia ​told Reuters in an interview. "However, a counterproposal has now been sent to India, we are ​finalizing this process, and we hope the treaty with India can be signed in 2027," he added.


China remains Peru's top export partner, fueled mainly by copper ​and minerals.

Official data showed exports to India totaled $6.184 billion ⁠between January ‌and July, up 152% from the same period a year ​earlier, while ​shipments to the United States reached $5.971 billion, a 21% increase.

India ⁠and Peru began their first round of free trade agreement negotiations ​in 2017.

Peru, a leading copper producer, expects exports to ​hit a record high of more than $100 billion this year, up from about $91 billion in 2025, according to Valencia.

Speaking a day after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Peru, Valencia said he had discussed higher U.S. duties introduced in July on the country's exports.

"The conversation was very frank and very open, and ‌we noticed a great deal of receptiveness from Rubio," Valencia said. "I mentioned that the tariff rate recently imposed by the United States, ​not only ​on Peru but on ⁠many other countries, would affect our exports this year. So this is under negotiation."

While Peru has traded largely tariff-free with the U.S. under a 2009 agreement, the ​new duties have hit Peru's agricultural exports, specifically blueberries, textiles, grapes and avocados.

Valencia added that he expects to travel to the United States later this month with President Keiko Fujimori for the United Nations General Assembly, where Peru hopes to push forward talks with Washington on tariffs and bilateral trade relations.