Reciprocal tariffs of 26% announced on Indian goods were also paused till July 9, except a 10% baseline tariff imposed on all goods from most countries.
| Photo Credit:
Carlos Barria
Keeping up pressure on India, US President Donald Trump has said once again that the US is very close to sealing a trade deal with the country even as he sent letters to fourteen trade partners specifying tariff rates to be imposed on them from August 1.
India can, however, take more time to wrangle a deal where its own offensive and defensive interests are met as it is clear that Trump’s tariffs are now being pushed beyond July 9 by at least three weeks. The US President has also indicated that he may be open to negotiations beyond August 1.
“Now we’ve made a deal with United Kingdom. We’ve made a deal with China. We’re close to making a deal with India. Others we met with and we don’t think we’re going to be able to make a deal. So we just send them a letter,” Trump said on Monday talking to reporters at the White House.
Trump’s letters, sent to countries including Japan, South Korea, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Serbia, Tunisia and South Africa, spells out tariffs to be imposed on them from August 1. The new tariffs are mostly close to the reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2, that were initially paused till July 9. Reciprocal tariffs of 26 per cent announced on Indian goods were also paused till July 9, except a 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed on all goods from most countries.
Trump’s stated intention behind the proposed tariffs and the trade pacts that he is trying to get into with partner countries is to bring down America’s trade deficit.
Trump indicated that the US may be even open for negotiations beyond August 1 in response to a question on whether it was a hard deadline. “I would say firm, but not 100 per cent firm. If they call up and they say we’d like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that,” he said.
The Indian negotiating team spent about a week’s time recently in Washington DC trying to work out a trade deal before July 9, but that couldn’t happen due to continued disagreements over some issues, including protecting India’s sensitivities in agriculture and dairy.
India also wants preferential market access in the areas of its interest, such as labour intensive products, that would give it an edge over competitors.
“…India discusses on its own terms and we never make a trade deal based on a timeline. When the deal is good, fully matured, and in the national interest, then we accept it, “ Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told the media on Friday (July 4) when asked about the fate of the trade deal with the United States and the July 9 deadline.
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Published on July 8, 2025