The US and India will eventually reach a trade deal, said US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant.
“I believe India is the world's largest democracy. The US is the world's largest economy. I think we will eventually reach a deal“, he said in an interview with Fox Business.
According to Besant, India was one of the first to approach Washington with a proposal to conclude a trade deal, but then the negotiations dragged on. “I thought we would have a deal in May-June, that India would be one of the countries with which we had an early deal, but they were slow“, said the US Treasury Secretary.
A 25% tariff on Indian goods imposed by the US due to India's purchase of Russian oil took effect on Wednesday. Previously, the Washington administration imposed a 25% tariff on the republic as part of the country's new trade policy. Thus, India was among the US trading partners with the highest tariffs, with the country's rate being 50%.