New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) The government on Friday appointed 1994-batch IAS officer Rajesh Agarwal, additional secretary in the department of commerce, as the next commerce secretary.

Agarwal, from Manipur cadre, has been named Special Secretary in the department. He will take over as the secretary after the retirement of Sunil Barthwal on September 30.

“The officer will take over as Secretary, Department of Commerce… vice Shri Sunil Barthwal, IAS (BH:89) upon his superannuation on September 30, 2025,” a government order said.

Agarwal, the chief negotiator for the proposed bilateral trade agreement with the US, will be taking charge of the department at a time when global trade is facing a number of challenges due to the imposition of high tariffs by America and ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The imposition of these tariffs, particularly against China, has triggered a trade war between Beijing and Washington. Both are major trading countries of the world.

While the US is India’s largest trading partner, China ranks as the second largest. However, widening trade deficit with China remains a major concern for India. It touched USD 99.2 billion in 2024-25.

At present, Agrawal is also leading the review of the free trade agreement in goods with the 10-nation ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) bloc, in addition to negotiations for the proposed comprehensive trade pact with Australia and Peru.

In addition, he is also incharge of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

He is also the chief negotiator for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

Though India’s goods and services exports have crossed an all-time high of USD 820 billion in 2024-25, the merchandise shipments recorded almost a flat growth at USD 437.42 billion. PTI RR DRR