New Delhi, Nov 11 (UNI) The United States is coming closer to sealing a trade deal with India, said President Donald Trump, adding that at some point, the US would bring down tariffs on India.
Trump’s remarks came during the swearing-in of Sergio Gor as the Ambassador to India.
“We’re making a deal with India. Much different than we had. Right now they don’t love me but they will love us again. We’re getting a fair deal. They’re very good negotiators, so Sergio, you will have to take a look at that. I think we’re pretty close to doing a deal that is good for everybody,” the US President said.
He also said the US would lower tariffs “at some point”. “Well, right now, the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil, and they’ve stopped doing the Russian oil. It’s been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down. At some point, we’re going to be bringing them down.”
Recently, union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had said the discussions on the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) are progressing smoothly, but many sensitive and serious issues remain to be resolved.
“Talks are going on very well. There are many sensitive issues, serious issues, so naturally, it takes some time,” the Minister added.
India and US faced headwinds in the trade relations since Trump announced 25pc tariffs on Indian goods effective August 1.
A few days later, he imposed an additional 25pc tariff, taking the total to 50pc citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil. These tariffs came into effect on August 27.
In the mid-September, a US delegation led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, Brendan Lynch, held “positive and forward-looking” discussions with Indian officials in New Delhi.
Since March, five rounds of discussions have been held on the agreement’s first phase, which was initially expected to conclude by the autumn of 2025.
