Politics Rubio: USA and India close to finalizing their trade agreement
Following the differences with India over US customs policy, the USA is confident that it will be able to conclude a long-awaited trade agreement in the near future.
24.05.2026, 16:50
SDA
"We have made tremendous progress," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after political talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi. He expects that an agreement will ultimately be reached that is beneficial to both sides and meets the national interests of both countries.
Rubio did not give a specific timeframe for the conclusion of the negotiations. However, a US delegation would be arriving in India soon, the minister said.
Important partner
India is an important strategic partner for the USA. However, the relationship was severely strained by the US imposing punitive tariffs on India during US President Donald Trump's second term in office. In February, Trump then canceled the punitive tariffs, with which he wanted to indirectly weaken Russia's multi-billion dollar oil trade.
The two sides also published the framework for a provisional trade agreement, which provides for a reduction in additional US import duties on Indian goods from 25% to 18%. At times, the US had imposed tariffs of 50 percent on imports from India, including the 25 percent due to the world's most populous country's trade deals with Russia.
Rubio defended the tariff policy against criticism. He said that Trump had not said "let's find a way to cause friction with India over trade". He had not traveled to a country where trade problems had not been an issue, the minister said. Rubio is attending a foreign ministers' meeting of the Quad Security Dialogue in New Delhi on Tuesday. One goal of the group, which includes the US, India, Australia and Japan, is to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.
