US Treasury Secretary says ‘India is likely to be one of first to finalise BTA with US’

“We've had many countries come forward and present some very good proposals, and we're evaluating those.” “I would guess that India would be one of the first trade deals we would sign. So watch this space,” Bessent said

Washington: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that India is likely to be among the first countries to finalise a bilateral trade agreement with the US to avert reciprocal tariffs by President Donald Trump.

Bessent made these remarks on Monday during an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box’ to discuss the latest developments on President Trump’s trade negotiations with other countries.

---

“Negotiations with our Asian trading partners are going very well. Vice President JD Vance was in India last week and talked about substantial progress. I have mentioned that the negotiations with the Republic of Korea have gone very well. And I think we’ve had some very substantial negotiations with our Japanese allies,” Bessent said.

Since President Trump’s announcement that he would keep in place 10 per cent across-the-board tariffs but pause for 90 days more aggressive levies against individual trading partners, the US has made progress in negotiations, Bessent said, singling out India for a potential deal in coming days among 15 to 18 “important trading relationships” that are subject of negotiations, CNBC reported.

“We’ve had many countries come forward and present some very good proposals, and we’re evaluating those,” he said. “I would guess that India would be one of the first trade deals we would sign. So watch this space,” Bessent added.

Bessent also put the responsibility for reaching a trade agreement on China. “I believe that it’s up to China to de-escalate, because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them, and so these 120 per cent, 145 per cent tariffs are unsustainable,” he said during the interview.

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.

During Vance’s visit to India, both countries welcomed the “significant progress” in the negotiations for a mutually beneficial bilateral trade pact. Both leaders welcomed the significant progress in the negotiations for a mutually beneficial India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) focused on the welfare of the people of the two countries. Also, they noted continued efforts towards enhancing cooperation in energy, defence, strategic technologies and other areas.