The United States and India are close to finalising a deal to reduce tariffs on American goods entering India and to help New Delhi avoid a sharp increase in Trump-era levies set to take effect next week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday.
“We are very close with India,” Bessent told Fox News in response to a question about progress on trade negotiations.
Indian officials extended a visit to Washington last week through Monday to try to reach an agreement on a trade deal with President Donald Trump’s administration and address lingering concerns on both sides, Indian government sources told Reuters.
India is one of more than a dozen countries actively negotiating with the Trump administration to try to avoid a steep spike in tariff rates on July 9, when a 90-day tariff pause ends. India could see its new “reciprocal” tariff rate rise to 27% from the current 10%.
Trade Disputes Stall Talks
The U.S.-India talks have hit roadblocks over disagreements on import duties for auto components, steel, and farm goods, ahead of Trump’s deadline to impose reciprocal tariffs.
“We are in the middle — hopefully more than the middle — of a very intricate trade negotiation,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told an event in New York on Monday.
“Obviously, my hope would be that we bring it to a successful conclusion. I cannot guarantee it, because there’s another party to that discussion,” said Jaishankar, who is in the U.S.for a meeting of the China-focused Quad grouping.
He added that there “will have to be give and take” and the two sides will have to find middle ground.
Bessent told Fox News that different countries have different agendas for trade deals, including Japan, which Trump complained about on Monday. But Bessent added that career trade negotiators are impressed with the offers that countries are making to the U.S.
“People who have been at Treasury, at Commerce, at USTR for 20 years, are saying that these are deals that they have never seen before,” Bessent said.
So far, only Britain has negotiated a limited trade deal with the Trump administration, accepting a 10% U.S. tariff on many goods, including autos, in exchange for special access for aircraft engines and British beef.
(With inputs from Reuters)
