India-US trade deal ‘much different’: Trump says when Marco Rubio meets Jaishankar in Mumbai | Today’s news
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the US and India are close to finalizing a trade deal after more than a year of negotiations. His statement came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai on Tuesday.
“They want to make a deal. We’re going to make a deal. Pretty close, yes,” Trump said Tuesday, according to Bloomberg, when asked by reporters at the White House about the prospects for a deal.
The president said it “could be a much different kind of deal,” without elaborating.
Agree on “materialization in weeks, not months”
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Donald Trump and Marco Rubio said the countries were close to an agreement. Rubio said only a small number of items remain to be worked out, including technical details.
Rubio said he expects a deal to materialize within weeks, not months, and that the remaining matters could be closed soon. The deal has not yet been finalized.
Rubio said the two sides must agree on every detail and make sure the wording means the same thing to every country. He warned that announcing an incomplete deal could jeopardize the relationship.
The exemption removed one potential obstacle to negotiations, as tariffs could affect Indian products. The articles describe it as mitigating complications, not completing the deal.
India is seeking preferential tariffs for its exporters in the US market compared to competitors such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the first tranche is in its final outlines and at the legal draft stage.
Trump’s remarks came during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to India this week.
Marco Rubio is on an official visit to India from October 20-21 at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, his second visit to the country after an earlier trip to Delhi in May.
At the Freedom 250 reception in Mumbai, Rubio also revealed that the India-US trade deal is “incredibly close”, indicating that completion is expected soon, news agency ANI reported.
In an interview with Network18, Rubio noted that while he is not directly involved in the negotiations, which are being conducted through a trade representative, he has been following the discussions closely and expects the deal to be completed in weeks, not months.
Elaborating on the final stages, Rubio stressed the need for absolute precision before public announcements to protect bilateral ties of such high importance.
He said: “I’ve felt that way before and in these deals it’s always important that it’s fully agreed, every detail of it, before it’s announced because you can’t afford to have a relationship of this magnitude jeopardized by announcing the deal and it turns out the deal wasn’t done.”
“But it’s incredibly close. I think we’ve gotten to some technicalities that need to be worked out. The technicalities matter because there has to be an agreement; both sides have to agree that the language means the same thing. So it’s at that level,” he said.
India and the US have entered into a trade agreement
Both American and Indian officials have recently commented optimistically on the chances of a deal that would break the long-running trade standoff between Washington and New Delhi.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi last week that “big things are done” and that the two countries are very close to “landing”.
This followed remarks by India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in which he said he was encouraged by the progress in trade talks and that the two sides were “moving towards a landing point”.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal also said the “first tranche” of the deal would be finalized soon.
“It is undergoing final contours, legalization and we hope to be able to complete it soon and make it operational once we have a comparative advantage or a competitive advantage over our partner countries,” a statement from his office at the event in Delhi quoted him as saying.
According to Reuters, Goyal was referring to New Delhi’s efforts to secure a tariff advantage in the US market for Indian exporters over rival economies such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Late on Friday, Trump dropped tariffs of up to 100% on buyers of Russian oil and gas — tariffs that would hit Indian products and complicate trade talks.
US aims for $500 billion in bilateral trade with India within three years
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor recently said the US has set an ambitious target of doubling its bilateral trade with India to more than $500 billion over the next three years, from a record $240 billion.
Addressing business leaders and diplomats at the Freedom 250 reception in Mumbai, Ambassador Gor highlighted the deepening economic and strategic partnership between the two nations.
He noted that President Donald Trump sent him to India with a clear mandate – “Deliver results. Don’t just talk about the future. Do it.”
“In their recent discussions, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed this commitment,” Gor said, according to ANI.
He said: “Today, our bilateral trade has broken records and reached more than $240 billion. We have an ambitious target. We are laser-focused on taking this number past $500 billion in the next three years.”
