 "File photo | Source: Reuters")
US President Donald Trump claimed Thursday (June 26) that his administration has signed a trade deal with China, adding that a “very big” deal with India was also on the horizon.
While speaking at an event regarding his so-called Big Beautiful Bill event, Trump said: “Everybody wants to make a deal and have a part of it. Remember a few months ago, the press was saying, ‘You really have anybody of any interest?’ Well, we just signed with China yesterday. We are having some great deals. We have one coming up, maybe with India. Very big one. Where we’re going to open up India, in the China deal, we are starting to open up China.”
This comes after news agency Reuters reported earlier this week that trade talks between India and the US had stalled over serious disagreements.
Reuters reported that the US was demanding India commit to lower import tariffs on farm goods such as soybeans and corn, as well as automobiles and alcoholic beverages.
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View AllIt also wanted India to relax certain non-tariff barriers, something that Indian officials said was difficult to agree to.
However, the US president made it clear his administration was not signing deals with everybody.
“We’re not going to make deals with everybody. Some we are just going to send them a letter, say thank you very much. You are to pay 25, 35, 45 per cent. That’s the easy way to do it, and my people don’t want to do it that way. They want to do some of it, but they want to make more deals than I would do,” Trump said.
US-India trade deal
A high-level Indian delegation, headed by Chief Negotiator Rajesh Agarwal, is in Washington to address differences in sectors such as digital trade, tariffs, pharmaceuticals, electronics, agriculture, and defense supply chains.
India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal termed the discussions “fair, equitable, and balanced,” while US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick described the progress as “very optimistic.”
Key focus areas include mutual tariff reductions, customs simplification, and harmonising technical standards.
India is seeking to counter the US threat of additional tariffs beyond the April reciprocal duty freeze.
With a looming deadline to either maintain or lift reciprocal tariffs, both nations are under pressure to finalise an initial agreement soon.
A deal could enhance bilateral trade (already ₹11 lakh crore or $128 billion in FY25), improving market access in agriculture, energy, defence, digital technology, and supply-chain resilience.
US deal with China
The White House confirmed that the US had struck an agreement with Beijing regarding smooth flow of rare earth shipments.
China previously restricted exports of these critical minerals, disrupting global production supply lines.
“The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement,” a White House official was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The understanding aims to address delays caused by China’s restrictions on critical minerals and magnets, which had significantly affected US industries, including automotive, defence, and technology sectors.
Another administration official stated that the US-China agreement was finalised earlier in the week and would help ease US export restrictions in exchange for the resumption of Chinese shipments.