President Trump signals breakthrough, saying 'fair deal' is very close.
Washington and New Delhi are moving closer to finalising a major new US-India trade deal, with President Donald Trump signalling that a breakthrough is "pretty close." Speaking at the White House, Trump hinted at significant progress in negotiations and suggested that steep US tariffs on Indian goods could soon be reduced.
"We’re making a deal with India. Much different than we had," President Trump said during the ceremony. He acknowledged the tough negotiations, calling Indian officials "very good negotiators," but expressed confidence in a new "fair deal."
"Right now they don’t love me but they will love us again," Trump remarked, adding that he believes both sides are "pretty close to doing a deal that is good for everybody."
A key point of discussion has been the high Donald Trump tariffs imposed on Indian imports. When asked if those tariffs would be lowered, the President was optimistic. "Well, right now, the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil... Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down. At some point, we’re going to be bringing them down," he said.
Trump also praised the strong India US trade relations and his personal friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The President's remarks align with recent updates from the Indian government. On November 5, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed that the Piyush Goyal trade talks were "going on very well." However, he cautioned that several "sensitive and serious issues" were still being deliberated, which naturally takes time.
This new agreement is highly anticipated. The negotiations, which have seen five rounds of talks since March, are part of a major push to more than double the trade volume between the two nations. The current US-India trade target is to increase bilateral trade from its current level of $191 billion to $500 billion by the year 2030.
With negotiators from both sides intensifying their efforts, there is growing optimism that a first-phase deal could be signed by the end of 2025.
