India seeks critical mineral agreement with US, hopes for a trade pact, minister says

By Shivangi Acharya

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's trade minister on Saturday said the country has sought a critical mineral partnership agreement with the United States as he hopes for talks on a broader trade pact between the two nations.

"I had suggested that critical mineral MoU (memorandum of understanding) to be converted to a critical mineral partnership and become a starting point to become an FTA (Free Trade Agreement)," Piyush Goyal told reporters at a press briefing in New Delhi.

Earlier this month, India and U.S. signed an initial pact to cooperate on strengthening supply chains in the two countries for lithium, cobalt and other critical minerals used in electric vehicles and clean energy applications.

The MoU fell far short of a full critical minerals trade deal that would allow India to benefit from the $7,500 U.S. electric vehicle tax credit.

Minerals-focused trade deals are one way that the U.S. President Joe Biden's administration hopes to open up access for trusted allies to a $7,500 per vehicle EV tax credit introduced in last year's climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act.

(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya in New Delhi; editing by Jason Neely)