'I think we'll have a deal,' says Trump as India 'coming along great'

Washington: US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about trade talks with India, describing them as “coming along great” and voicing confidence in reaching an agreement.

However, unlike his aides, the president did not put an immediacy to the talks.

“India's coming along great,” he remarked to reporters at an airport before heading to a rally in Michigan state, where he highlighted his accomplishments during the first 100 days of his second term. “I think we'll have a deal with India... they want to make a deal.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been spearheading negotiations with Asian trading partners, highlighted the possibility of India being the first to finalise a trade deal following the global trade upheaval caused by President Trump’s multiple tariff escalations, including reciprocal tariffs on nearly all of America’s trading partners.

President Trump’s reciprocal levies, announced earlier this month, initially set imports from India at 26 per cent. These tariffs, aimed at equalising import duties and addressing the trade imbalance favouring India, have been temporarily reduced to 10 per cent for 90 days. This adjustment applies to all trading partners except China, whose exports to the US face a 145 per cent tariff.

India has been off the block fast to sew up a trade deal, and the Trump administration has been touting it as the model outcome of President Trump’s tariff assault on global trade.

“I would guess that India would be one of the first trade deals we would sign,” Treasury Secretary Bessent told CNBC.

Bessent has indicated the first trade deal is expected this week or the next.

India wants a deal and made it clear by not retaliating to President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, unlike China, and moved swiftly to seek a deal instead.

Few details are available of the deal, but there are expectations in the US of major cuts in duties on imported automobiles, a long-standing US demand.

(inputs from IANS)