Indian trade deal talks moving well, much easier to negotiate with India: US Treasury Secretary Bessent

New York/Washington: The US is “very close” on a trade deal with India, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday, noting that it is much easier to negotiate with Delhi because of the high tariffs and talks with the country are “moving well.”

Bessent made these remarks at a press briefing in the White House. Earlier, on Monday, he told CNBC that India is likely to be among the first countries to finalise a bilateral trade agreement with the US to avert reciprocal tariffs.

America's Asian trading partners and allies “have been the most forthcoming in terms of doing the deals. As I mentioned, Vice President Vance was in India last week. I think that he and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi made some very good progress. So I could see some announcements on India,” Bessent told reporters at the White House.

He added that he can also see the contours of a deal with South Korea coming together, and substantial talks with Japan.

Responding to a question on the timeline for a trade deal, he said, “I think that we are very close on India and in India... India, in a funny way, is easier to negotiate than the many other countries because they have very high tariffs and lots of tariffs.

“So, it's much easier to confront the direct tariffs when as we go through these unfair trade deals that have been put in over decades, that the non-tariff trade barriers can be much more insidious and also harder to detect.

“So a country like India, which has the posted and ready tariffs, it's much easier to negotiate with them. So I think the Indian negotiations are moving well,” he said.

US President Trump announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on a number of countries, including India and China, on April 2. However, on April 9, he announced a 90-day suspension of these tariffs until July 9 this year, except for those on China and Hong Kong, as about 75 countries approached America for trade deals.

However, the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed on the countries on April 2 remains in effect, besides the 25 per cent duties on steel, aluminium, and auto components.

US Vice President JD Vance, who was in India last week on an official visit, had met Prime Minister Modi.

A statement from the Office of the Vice President had welcomed significant progress in the negotiations for a US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and formally announced the finalisation of the Terms of Reference for the negotiations, laying down a roadmap for further discussions about our shared economic priorities.

The BTA presents an opportunity to negotiate a new and modern trade agreement focused on promoting job creation and citizen well-being in both countries, with the goal of enhancing bilateral trade and supply-chain integration in a balanced and mutually beneficial manner, it said.

Guided by their respective visions of ‘Amrit Kaal for India’ and ‘Golden Age for America,’ BTA is expected to create new opportunities of growth for workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs in both countries, the statement had said.

Deliberations between Indian and US officials on the proposed bilateral trade agreement began in Washington last week with an aim to iron out issues and give an impetus to the negotiations.

India’s chief negotiator, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal, is leading the team for the first in-person talks between the two countries.

The US has stated that the pact with India will help open new markets for American goods and create new opportunities for workers, farmers and entrepreneurs in both countries.

On April 15, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal had stated that India will try to close the negotiations as quickly as possible with the US.

In a joint statement issued after their bilateral meeting in Washington in February this year, President Trump and PM Modi had announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025.

The leaders had committed to designate senior representatives to advance these negotiations and to ensure that the trade relationship fully reflects the aspirations of the COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology).

In the past, Trump has called India “tariff king” and a “big abuser”.

During a joint press conference with Modi in the White House on February 13, Trump had said that India has “been very strong on tariffs”, and “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.”