‘I Think We’ll Have A Deal’: President Donald Trump Optimistic As US-India Trade Talks ‘Coming Along Great’

Amid the trade war, US President Donald Trump has shown optimism about the progress of trade negotiations with India, hinting at a possible deal.

US keen to make a trade deal with India?

“I think we’ll have a deal with India," Donald Trump said, while referring to the recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House.

“The prime minister, as you know, was here three weeks ago, and they want to make a deal," the President said, indicating that PM Modi’s visit to the United States in late February brought momentum in the ongoing trade discussions.

Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remarked that the United States was “very close on India", held “substantial talks" with Japan over a possible trade deal, and that “the contours of a deal" with South Korea could be coming together. [Source: News18]

US Vice President hinting at a possible deal with India

When US Vice President JD Vance met with PM Modi last week, the two leaders “made some very good progress, so I could see some announcements on India," Scott Bessent said, adding, “A country like India, which has the posted and ready tariffs, it’s much easier to negotiate with them."

The US government has been working to secure trade deals with prospective partners since Donald Trump made the sweeping tariffs announcement.

“We have 18 important trading relationships, we will be speaking to all of those partners, or at least 17 of them, over the next few weeks. Many of them have already come to Washington," Scott Bessent shared.

The tariff issues between India and the US

Incidentally, while announcing a 26% tariff on Indian imports, Trump said it was a "discounted reciprocal tariff" to counter India's high duties on American goods.

Trade tensions between the US and India have been a longstanding issue, with the US President previously calling India the "tariff king" and a "big abuser" in global trade.

On February 13, during a joint press conference with PM Modi at the White House, Trump said, "India has been very strong on tariffs. I don't blame them, necessarily, but it's a different way of doing business. It's very hard to sell into India because they have trade barriers, very strong tariffs."

Trump estimated the US trade deficit with India to be nearly $100 billion and had previously remarked that the Indian Prime Minister had agreed to start negotiations to correct "long-running disparities that should have been taken care of over the last four years – but they didn't do that."

The US President had previously hinted that both nations are willing to "a level playing field, which we really think we're entitled to, and he does also, in fairness, so we're going to work on that very hard."

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