India-US Trade Talks Ongoing, Too Early for Conclusions: Jaishankar

New Delhi, May 16 (KNN) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed on Thursday that trade negotiations between India and the United States are currently underway, while emphasising that the process is far from complete. 

Speaking on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi, Jaishankar described the negotiations as intricate and cautioned against drawing premature conclusions, according to ANI.

"Between India and the US, trade talks have been going on, negotiations have been going on. The team is just going at it at this point... These are very complicated negotiations; they are very intricate,” Jaishankar stated. 

“Nothing is decided till everything is. Any trade deal has to be mutually beneficial; any trade deal has to work for both countries. That would be our expectation from the trade deal. Until that is done, any judgment on it would be premature," he highlighted.

Jaishankar's comments coincided with US President Donald Trump's claim that India has proposed eliminating tariffs on American goods as part of efforts to secure a trade agreement before the expiration of a 90-day pause period. 

Addressing a gathering in Qatar, Trump said, "They've offered us a deal where basically they're willing to literally charge us no tariff... They're the highest, and now they're saying no tariff."

On April 2, Trump imposed a 26 percent  ‘discounted, reciprocal tariff’ on India, compared to the 52 percent tariff rate India had placed on US-made products. 

Trump announced a 90-day pause a week later, on April 9, as several nations sought to negotiate deals with the United States. Trump previously suggested that agreements with India, Japan, and South Korea could be forthcoming, stating that trade talks with India were ‘coming along great.’

(KNN Bureau)