Trump Says US-India Trade Deal 'Very Close' Amid Ongoing Negotiations

New Delhi (India) July 17: On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that Washington is "very close" to reaching a trade agreement with India. He implied that the two countries are nearing the final stage of their current talks. 

Trump stated, "We're very close to a deal with India, where they open it up." He was at the meeting in the Oval Office with Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Bahrain's Crown Prince.

The US president stressed on the continued efforts to increase American companies' access to markets.

He said, “We’ve made deals with a lot of great places. We have another one coming up, maybe with India. I don’t know, we’re in negotiation. When I send out a letter, that’s a deal. The best deal we can make is to send out a letter, and the letter says that you'll pay 30%, 35%, 25%, 20%. We have some pretty good deals to announce.” 

Trump said on Tuesday that the United States is negotiating an agreement to open up Indian markets. 

He said, "We're going to have access into India. And you have to understand, we had no access into any of these countries. Our people couldn't go in. And now we're getting access because of what we're doing with the tariffs.”

India aims for better deal than Indonesia

In an effort to meet an August 1 deadline, Indian officials are seeking to reach a trade agreement with US President Donald Trump at a lower tariff rate than he had agreed with Indonesia.

Trump announced that the United States will be able to transport American goods to Indonesia duty-free. It will lower the feared 32% tariff rate on imports from Indonesia to 19%. 

Later, the US president informed reporters that "we're going to have access into India" and that the India deal will be "along that same line."

According to sources in New Delhi, India is looking for better prices than Indonesia and the 20% tariff Trump has threatened to put on Vietnam. India and the US are attempting to reach an agreement that would lower the planned tariffs to less than 20%.

India offers Boeing deal, tariff cuts

India has already said that if the US follows suit, it will eliminate all tariffs on American industrial exports. In addition to providing increased market access for some American agricultural exports, New Delhi has increased its chances of purchasing additional Boeing Co. aircraft. 

In addition to Indonesia, Trump has declared a ceasefire with China and trade agreements with Vietnam and the United Kingdom. According to Trump, Jakarta has promised to buy Boeing aircraft, $15 billion in US energy and $4.5 billion in agricultural products.

Trump made his most recent comments when a group from India's Commerce Ministry is in the US for new trade talks. Piyush Goyal, the minister of commerce had emphasized earlier this month that India does not commit to trade deals based on deadlines.

Aadrika Tayal