US President Donald Trump Says Trade Deal With India ‘Very Close’ | World News
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Washington is ‘very close’ to a trade deal with India.
“We have another one [deal] coming up, maybe with India… We’re very close to a deal with India where they open it up,” Trump said.
He elaborated, “We’re in negotiation. When I send out a letter, that’s a deal… The best deal we can make is to send out a letter, and the letter says that you’ll pay 30%, 35%, 25%, 20%… We have some pretty good deals to announce… We’re very close to a deal with India where they open it up,” ANI reported, quoting Trump.
Trump made similar remarks in an interview with Real America’s Voice, stating, “We’ve made deals with a lot of great places. We have another one coming up, maybe with India. I don’t know, we’re in negotiation. When I send out a letter, that’s a deal,” as per media reports.
Trump’s remarks come amid ongoing negotiations, with the Indian negotiating team led by Special Secretary in the Commerce Department, Rajesh Agarwal, having arrived in Washington on Monday to engage with US officials in finalising a deal.
According to Politico, the upcoming announcement “is expected to be only the first phase of a trade deal, with a more robust and comprehensive agreement to come in the fall.”
On Tuesday, Trump said that India is working on a trade deal on the lines of the one reached with Indonesia.
According to him, under the Indonesia deal, Jakarta will not charge any tariffs on imports from the US, while the US will collect a 19 per cent tariff on Indonesian exports.
Talks began as early as February with India, and Trump and US officials have said several times that a trade deal was imminent, but so far it hasn’t panned out.
After Vice President JD Vance’s visit to India in April, US Commerce Secretary Scott Bessent said that India would be among the first to sign a trade deal, and it may come in early May.
In June, after a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump said, “I think Modi is a fantastic man. I spoke to him last night. We’re going to make a trade deal with Modi of India.”
But issues relating to agriculture, access for Indian professionals to the US, and intellectual property have apparently complicated the talks.
Trump has said that he would impose a secondary tariff of 100 per cent on countries that buy energy from Russia, if Moscow does not make peace with Ukraine by early September.
(With IANS Inputs)
