The Indian minister, Bio Joyal, says a “wonderful” progress in the talks with us

Trade Minister Pion Joyal said that India is making “great progress” in its commercial talks with the United States.

The minister made the comments in London, after the signing A free commercial deal announced With the United Kingdom on Thursday.

Goyal’s optimistic statement comes against the background of Washington and Delhi missing several final dates to finish the touches on the deal.

US President Donald Trump set August 1 on the deadline of many countries, including India, to sign a commercial deal or confront a severe tariff.

Trump announced for the first time by 26 % on Indian goods on April 2 as part of a broader step for commercial policy. While the definitions were initially stopped until July 9, the United States later extended the deadline until August 1.

Indian delegations made multiple trips to the United States to end the details of the deal.

Last week, Trump seemed equally optimistic, saying that Washington and Delhi were “Very close” to finish A temporary commercial agreement. The two countries aim to reach a bilateral deal by the end of this year.

Speak to Reuters news agency on Thursday, Joyal He said India was making “great progress” in the commercial deal talks with the United States.

“I hope we can conclude a very subordinate partnership,” he added.

When asked about the main stick point in India – decreased tariffs about agriculture and dairy products – Goyal said “negotiations occur in the negotiating room.” However, he added that India may still follow a comprehensive deal if it is possible to achieve smaller sectoral agreements, according to Reuters.

The minister expressed Similar confidence To Bloomberg, saying he believes that India and the United States will reach a deal before the deadline. However, it is still unclear how they will solve the main issues that have stopped negotiations for several months.

Washington has prompted an increase in access to the agricultural sector in India for years, and I saw it as an unexploited main market. But India strongly protected it, noting food security, ways to live and the interests of millions of small farmers.

Until recently, the United States was the largest trading partner in India, with bilateral trade reached $ 190 billion. Trump and Modi set a goal for more than twice this number to $ 500 billion.

India has already reduced the customs tariff for a group of goods – including borbon whiskey and motorcycles – but the United States continues to run a trade deficit of $ 45 billion (33 billion pounds) with India, which Trump is keen to limit.