Months after imposing tariffs on India, United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, November 11, that the country is close to a trade deal with India. He also said that at some point the US will reduce tariffs on India.
Trump said this during the swearing-in ceremony of Sergio Goro as ambassador to India.
Donald Trump said during his speech: “We’re going to make a deal with India. Much different than we had. They don’t love me right now, but they’re going to love us again. We’re getting a fair deal. They’re very good negotiators, so you’re going to have to look at that Sergio. I think we’re pretty close to making a deal that’s good for everybody.”
Asked how close the two countries were to striking a trade deal, Donald Trump said the U.S. would “cut tariffs at some point.”
The American president said, “Well, right now the tariffs on India are very high because of Russian oil, and they stopped paying Russian oil. It has been reduced very substantially. Yes, we will reduce the tariffs. We will reduce them at some point.”
Earlier on November 5, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said talks on a bilateral trade deal between India and the US were “going very well”, but said there were “many sensitive and serious issues” and it would take a long time.
“The talks are going very well. There are many sensitive issues, many serious issues, so naturally it is taking some time,” Minister Goyal told ANI when asked to give an update on the India-US trade talks.
On October 23, the negotiators of both countries held a virtual discussion. So far, five rounds of talks have been completed since March on the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, which was initially decided to be written “in the autumn of 2025”.
The bilateral trade deal, formally proposed in February based on directives from the leaders of both countries, aims to more than double trade volumes from the current $191 billion to $500 billion by 2030.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was in the United States in September for high-level trade talks as the two countries work towards a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement. Goyal was accompanied by a delegation of senior ministry officials, including Special Secretary and India’s Chief Negotiator Rajesh Agrawal.
In mid-September, a team of United States officials led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch held “positive and forward-looking” discussions with officials from the Indian Ministry of Commerce in New Delhi, and it was decided to intensify efforts to conclude an early mutually beneficial trade agreement.
