Trump says India-US trade talks progressing towards a deal

President Donald Trump
| Photo Credit:
Matt Rourke

US President Donald Trump has indicated that India and the US will have a trade deal soon. He also said ongoing talks on the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) are “coming along great”.

Indian officials, however, believe that it will take at least two months even to work out an early tranche with limited commitments restricted to a few goods. Sources said the first full tranche of the agreement may take as long as six months.

“India (trade talk) is coming along great. I think we’ll have a deal with India,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday at the White House. He added that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the US three weeks ago, and India wanted to make a deal. 

Earlier on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was “very close” to a trade deal with India. Significantly, he said it was “easy to negotiate” with India because the issues were with regard to “very high tariffs” and they could be confronted directly.

“India, in a funny way, is easier to negotiate than many other countries because they have very high tariffs and lots of tariffs… So, it’s much easier to confront the direct tariffs…” he said.

He added that substantial talks were also happening with South Korea and Japan.

Apparently, the US is optimistic while India continues to be extremely cautious.

Some progress

Sources said “some progress” was made when senior Indian officials and their US counterparts met in Washington DC last week. They thrashed out issues and timelines.

“However, positions are not close enough for an agreement to be forged in just a few weeks,” a source tracking the matter told businessline.

“There is some agreement on the contours of the deal but the hard nosed negotiations on tariff reduction and addressing non-tariff barriers will need some time. An interim deal with limited items, that could help India avoid the reciprocal tariffs announced by the US, may need at least two months or so to be finalised,” the source said. 

Meanwhile, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick added to the suspense around trade deals on Tuesday, stating that the US had reached its first trade deal, but said it was not fully finalised and did not reveal the country involved.

Published on April 30, 2025