India likely to be first to ink trade deal with US, says Treasury Secy

New York/Washington: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he expects India to strike the first bilateral trade deal to avoid President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, according to the New York Post.

A 26 per cent ‘reciprocal’ tariff on Indian exports to the US is currently on a 90-day pause, set to expire on July 8. However, like other countries, India is presently subject to a 10 per cent tariff under the existing policy.

According to the New York Post, Bessent told a roundtable of about a dozen reporters on Wednesday that trade talks with India are “very close” to reaching a successful conclusion because the world’s most populous nation doesn’t have “so many high tariffs.”

“India also has fewer non-tariff trade barriers, obviously, no currency manipulation, very, very little government subsidies, so that reaching a deal with the Indians is much easier,” Bessent said at the DC event on the sidelines of the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings.

President Trump has demanded that other countries break down their tariffs and non-tariff barriers to American goods, as well as eliminate US trade deficits, the New York Post said.

Earlier on Tuesday, US Vice President JD Vance in Jaipur urged India to drop non-tariff barriers, give greater access to its markets and buy more American energy and military hardware as he laid out a broader roadmap of deeper ties between the two nations for a “prosperous and peaceful” 21st century.

The New York Post quoted data from Census Bureau to say that India accounted for nearly 3 per cent of imported goods to the US as of February. The US had a USD 45.7 billion trade deficit with India in 2024, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative.

Meanwhile, the treasury secretary leveled harsh criticism at the operations of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday even as he tried to reassure nervous investors that the United States would maintain its global leadership role.

“America first does not mean America alone,” he said in a speech to the Institute of International Finance, where he also promised support for the multilateral banks’ core missions. “To the contrary, it is a call for deeper collaboration and mutual respect among trade partners.”

Although Bessent said the IMF and the World Bank are “falling short,” he did not call for the US to withdraw from the institutions, as some conservatives had advocated in a Project 2025 proposal created by the Heritage Foundation.

He said the institutions “serve critical roles in the international system. And the Trump administration is eager to work with them — so long as they can stay true to their missions.”

It was the latest example of how Bessent, a former hedge fund manager who keeps a close eye on the financial markets, has tried to calm the economic turmoil as President Donald Trump tries to rewire international trade through aggressive tariffs.

But his efforts to provide clarity have repeatedly bumped up against Trump, who has contradicted him on policy changes or suggested that more tariffs are coming in ways that have amplified a sense of uncertainty. That same drama played out later on Wednesday as Trump suggested he would choose tariff rates if no deals were reached.