US, India Close To Finalising Trade Deal, White House Says As July 9 Deadline Nears

The United States and India are close to finalising a trade deal, the White House said on Tuesday, just days before the July 9 deadline on Trump's reciprocal tariffs.

“Yes, the President said that last week (that the US and India are very close to a trade deal), and it remains true,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to news agency ANI's question.

"I just spoke to our Secretary of Commerce about it. He was in the Oval Office with the President. They are finalising these agreements, and you’ll hear from the President and his trade team very soon when it comes to India," she said.

US continues to demand for duty concessions and market access in agriculture and dairy but that remains challenging given that India is still a large agrarian economy, with farmers depending on minimum support prices for their livelihoods.

In exchange, India is seeking duty concessions for labour-intensive sectors like textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, grapes, and bananas in the proposed trade pact.

The urgency stems from a temporary tariff pause agreed upon earlier this year. If an agreement isn’t reached by July 9, the US could reinstate up to 26% tariffs on select Indian goods, a move that may hurt Indian exporters across sectors including steel, aluminium, and auto parts.

India’s trade team has extended its stay in Washington to iron out such differences, people familiar with the matter said.

The in-person negotiations were initially supposed to run through June 27 but were extended by a day, raising hopes of an interim trade deal, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private.

Trump said last week said "a very big" deal with India was likely soon amid hardening stance of both the nations. The president has repeatedly flagged the US' $100 billion trade deficit with India.