U.S. ‘very close’ to a trade deal with India, Bessent says

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that the U.S. could be closing in on a trade deal with India, and that negotiations with the country “are moving well.”

“I think that we are very close on India,” Bessent said during a White House press briefing on President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office.

The White House has also had “substantial talks” with Japan over a possible trade deal and “the contours of a deal” with South Korea could be coming together, Bessent said.

Bessent’s comments come after Vice President JD Vance met last week with India’s prime minister Narendra Modi.

The two leaders “made some very good progress, so I could see some announcements on India,” the treasury secretary said. He did not provide a specific timeline.

“A country like India, which has the posted and ready tariffs, it’s much easier to negotiate with them,” he added.

Bessent said Monday on CNBC’s Squawk Box that India could be among the first trade deals the U.S. reaches.

The White House has been working to secure trade deals with partners in the weeks since Trump’s sweeping tariffs announcement.

“We have 18 important trading relationships relationships, we will be speaking to all of those partners, or at least 17 of them, over the next few weeks, many of them have already come to Washington,” Bessent said.

He said later during the briefing that trading relationships with 17 partners “are in motion,” a list that excludes China.