‘Trade talks are going great’: Donald Trump says bilateral agreement with India likely soon

US President Donald Trump said the trade agreement with India is coming along great and that he expects a deal soon. This comes after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had also indicated that the US and India were close to reaching the trade agreement. 

Talking to reporters outside the White House, Trump said, “India trade talks are going great. I think we’ll have a deal with India”. “The Prime Minister, as you know, was here three weeks ago, and they want to make a deal,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in February. 

Bessent had earlier stated that US Vice President JD Vance and PM Modi, who met in Delhi this month "made significant progress”. “So, I expect some announcements regarding India soon…A country like India, which has the posted and ready tariffs, it’s much easier to negotiate with them,” he said.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, without naming the country, had said that the US has reached a deal with a foreign power that should permanently ease the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs that Trump plans to impose. 

Trump, on April 2, announced reciprocal tariffs for all its trading partners. While he imposed 26 per cent on Indian goods, the tariffs for China skyrocketed to 245 per cent. Many of the countries responded with their own tariffs and other measures, including China, who imposed 125 per cent tariffs on US goods, India decided to not retaliate. 

The US had imposed separate tariffs on certain sectors, such as automobiles that attracted 25 per cent tariffs. He eventually announced plans to impose 10-25 per cent tariffs on pharmaceutical and semiconductor sectors too.