US-India trade deal being finalised, will be announced soon, says White House
The statement came days before the 90-day suspension of tariffs announced by United States President Donald Trump is set to end on July 9.
'I just spoke to our secretary of commerce about it [India-US trade deal],' Leavitt said during a press briefing. 'He was in the Oval office with the president. They are finalising these agreements.'
She added that an announcement from Trump and his trade team is expected 'very soon'.
Trump's so-called reciprocal tariffs imposed on several countries, including a 26% 'discounted' levy on India, took effect on April 9. Hours later, however, Trump had reduced the rates on imports from most countries to 10% for 90 days to provide time for trade negotiations.
The US president had repeatedly said he intended to impose a reciprocal tax on India, among others, citing high tariffs the countries impose on foreign goods.
The tariffs had led to concerns of a broader trade war that could disrupt the global economy and trigger recession.
The Indian government has said that it is in talks with Washington to finalise a bilateral trade agreement between September and November.
An Indian team led by Union Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal had visited the US in May to negotiate a trade agreement. Following this, a US team of negotiators was in India for a week earlier this month.
On Friday, Trump had said that New Delhi could sign a ' very big ' trade deal with Washington.
Leavitt on Monday called India a ' very strategic ally ' of the US in the Indo-Pacific region.
Responding to a question about China's influence in the area, Leavitt said: 'India remains a very strategic ally in the Asia Pacific and the President [Donald Trump] has a very good relationship with Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi and he will continue to have that.'
'Would love a big trade pact with US'
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, reacting to Trump's statement on the announcement of the bilateral trade agreement, said on Monday that India would 'love to have an agreement, a big, good, beautiful one', reported The Indian Express.
'At the junction we are in, and given our growth goals and ambition to be Viksit Bharat by 2047, the sooner we have such agreements with strong economies, the better they will serve us,' she told the newspaper.
Sitharaman added that agriculture and dairy have been among the 'very big red lines', where a high degree of caution has been exercised, during the talks with the US.
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