US, India ‘pretty close’ to making trade deal which will be much different than earlier pacts: Trump

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the US and India are “pretty close” to making a trade deal, which will be much different than the earlier pacts. While speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said India and the US were pretty close to making a trade deal. “They want to make a deal. We’re going to make a deal. Pretty close, yeah,” Trump said in response to a question.

Here’s what Trump said on trade deal

“It’s going to be a much different kind of deal than we’ve done,” the US President said. Trump’s remarks came at a time Secretary of State Marco Rubio was visiting India and discussed further strengthening bilateral relations focussing on sectors such as trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people ties.

Piyush Goyal earlier this month met US Trade Representatives

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal earlier this month had met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Milwaukee and Washington to discuss the finer aspects of the trade deal. It should be noted that India and the US in February had announced the finalisation of the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA). However, changes in the tariff landscape in the US have led to further negotiations on the pact.

Marco Rubio urges India to scale up energy trade and increase purchases

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged New Delhi to scale up energy trade and increase purchases of American technologies and systems. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted Rubio for wide-ranging talks shortly after the top diplomat arrived in Mumbai for his second visit to India in under five months, even as bilateral ties remain strained over Washington’s unpredictable trade policies and tightening immigration rules.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said both sides welcomed the progress made in negotiations on the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement and reaffirmed their commitment to working towards its early conclusion.

Rubio describes India as a crude oil refining ‘superpower’

Ahead of his meeting with Jaishankar, Rubio described India as a crude oil refining “superpower” and advocated for processing more Venezuelan crude in India. The Secretary of State is scheduled to visit Reliance Industries Ltd-owned Jamnagar Refinery on Wednesday. Rubio, answering a question on the trade pact during a brief media interaction ahead of the meeting, said that “a small number of items are left to be wrapped up” and hoped it will be sealed “shortly”.

After the meeting, Jaishankar said on social media that he and Rubio “shared views on further advancement of our ties, focusing on trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people ties.” The US State Department said the secretary and the external affairs minister discussed regional and global issues, including developments in West Asia.

With inputs from agecnies 

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