'We are going to have access...' Trump says US-India trade deal could be sealed soon

Washington: President Donald Trump said negotiations for an interim trade deal between the US and India are progressing smoothly and could be finalised soon.

The deal aims to give American companies increased access to the Indian market, similar to the US-Indonesia trade agreement. A key focus of the talks is to keep tariffs below 20 per cent.

"That's probably the biggest part of the deal...India is basically working along that same line. We are going to have access to India," he said.

The US president said his administration is going to announce a few other trade deals and mentioned India in that context.

"... We've brought in over $100 billion. The tariffs haven't kicked in that much, other than automobiles and Steel... August 1st is when a very substantial amount of money comes into our country. We've made deals with a lot of places. We had one yesterday... We have another one (deal) coming up, maybe with India... 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... We're very close to a deal with India where they open it up...," he said.

Washington has already sent letters to several countries sharing details of reciprocal tariff rates that would come into effect on August 1.

New Delhi hopes it will be able to strike a deal with the US to avoid the reciprocal tariffs. At the same time, India has indicated that it will not enter into the trade deal in a hurry.

India does not enter into any trade agreement based on deadlines and will accept the proposed trade deal with the US only when it is fully finalised, properly concluded and in the national interest, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said earlier this month.

An Indian commerce ministry team is in Washington for another round of talks on the proposed trade agreement.

India has hardened its position on the US demand for duty concessions on agri and dairy products. New Delhi has, so far, not given any duty concessions to any of its trading partners in a free trade agreement in the dairy sector.

New Delhi is seeking the removal of this additional tariff (26 per cent). It is also seeking the easing of tariffs on steel and aluminium (50 per cent) and the auto (25 per cent) sectors.

President Trump announced heavy tariffs on a number of countries, including India, on April 2. However, it was soon postponed for 90 days until July 9 and later to August 1. PTI