Trump says India-US trade deal is ‘pretty close’, signals different kind of agreement

Mangalore Today News Network

Washington, Oct 21, 2026: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said India and the United States were close to finalising a trade deal, adding that the proposed agreement would be significantly different from previous pacts.

“They want to make a deal. We’re going to make a deal. Pretty close, yeah,” Trump said in response to a question.

“It’s going to be a much different kind of deal than we’ve done,” he added.

Trump’s remarks came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited India to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral ties, with a focus on trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people relations.

During his interaction with the media in India, Rubio said that only a few issues remained to be resolved and expressed hope that the agreement would be finalised soon.

Earlier this month, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal held meetings with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Milwaukee and Washington to discuss the finer details of the proposed trade agreement.

In February, India and the US announced the finalisation of a framework for the first phase of their bilateral trade agreement (BTA).

However, changes in US tariff policies have prompted further negotiations on the proposed pact.