President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States and India are on the verge of concluding a trade agreement after more than a year of negotiations. Answering journalists' questions at the White House, Trump stated: 'They want to make a deal. We will make a deal. Quite close, yes.'
He specified that this agreement 'could turn out to be a completely different kind,' but did not provide further details. Previously, officials from both countries expressed optimism about the possibility of reaching an agreement that could end the protracted deadlock in trade relations between Washington and New Delhi.
The US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, noted last week at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi that 'the main points have been resolved,' and that the two countries are very close to 'reaching an agreement.' These statements followed comments by Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, who expressed satisfaction with the progress in trade discussions and noted that both sides are 'moving toward a landing point.'
Furthermore, at the end of Friday, Trump canceled tariffs of up to 100% for buyers of Russian oil and gas, which could negatively affect Indian products and complicate trade negotiations.
