Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal will be in South America starting Monday with first stop in Chile to hold talks on resolving remaining issues in the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two sides.

The visit will also take him to Argentina and Brazil for meetings of the forums that meet periodically to discuss trade related issues. The visit will last from July 24 to July 28.

“The trade agreement with Chile is in advanced stages. There are few issues that need resolution so both sides are trying to find a common ground on those,” a senior official said.

The two countries have held four rounds of formal negotiations on the CCPA with the last meeting held in New Delhi last December. Trade talks were temporarily paused following Chile’s December elections, which saw Conservative leader José Antonio Kast assume the presidency on March 11.

The pause was because the new government also wanted to reevaluate the contents and status of negotiations and after that exercise they are also keen to move ahead with the talks, the official added.

He said the differences remain on the issue of market access and critical minerals trade. 

Central to the negotiations is securing stable supply chains for critical minerals. Chile forms part of South America’s famed “Lithium Triangle” and stands as a premier global exporter of copper—both indispensable inputs for India’s electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing and renewable energy targets.

The proposed CEPA includes a dedicated chapter on critical and strategic minerals. India’s priority is establishing formal mechanisms to prevent sudden supply disruptions or arbitrary export bans, thereby creating predictable off-take channels for domestic solar and battery manufacturers. Chile’s focus would be on keeping the processing of these minerals at home 

India and Chile currently operate under an expanded Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). Initially signed in 2006 covering 474 tariff lines, the PTA was expanded in 2016 to cover 2,829 lines before coming into force in 2017. Recognizing the potential for deeper integration, both sides finalized the Terms of Reference to upgrade the agreement into a full-scale CEPA in April 2025.

Chile is currently India’s fifth-largest trading partner in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. Bilateral trade jumped significantly from $3.84 billion in 2024 to $5.38 billion in 2025.

After Chile, the commerce Secretary will visit Argentina and Brazil. In Argentina he will participate in the Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting that provides a forum to discuss all trade related matters. The last meeting of the JTC was held in October 2020.

With Argentina and Brazil, discussions would also be held on the stated plan to expand the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and Mercosur, that also includes countries like Uruguay, and Paraguay.

The PTA that is operational between India and Mercosur since 2009 covers only 450 tariff lines.