‘Going To Have A Good Deal’: Trump On India-US Trade Deal; Calls PM Modi ‘Fantastic Leader’ At Davos | World News

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed full confidence in the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), saying the two countries “will reach a good agreement”. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a close friend and a great leader.

Trump made this statement while speaking to Moneycontrol after delivering his speech at the 56th Annual World Economic Forum Summit.

When asked about the India-US trade deal, Trump said, “I have great respect for your Prime Minister. He is a great man and a friend of mine, and we will make a good deal.”

Earlier, Indian Commerce Minister Rajesh Agrawal said that the long-awaited first tranche of the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) is close to completion but did not specify a timeline.

The agreement, formally proposed in February 2025 under the guidance of leaders of both countries, aims to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the current $191 billion.

Discussions on BTA were first announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in February 2025.

It has been almost five months since customs duties on Indian exports to the US were raised to a high of 50 percent; half of this increase was described by Trump as a “punishment” for India’s purchase of Russian oil. Uncertainty remains about whether or when a trade deal can be reached.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, one of Trump’s key aides, claimed that a potential India-US trade deal collapsed because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call the US President. Another aide recently suggested that Trump has approved legislation that could raise tariffs on Indian goods by as much as 500 percent. Despite Trump’s repeated claims of friendship with Prime Minister Modi, these developments were seen as disturbing signals for the future of bilateral relations.

India quickly rejected Lutnick’s remarks. However, optimism resurfaced after the new US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, said that Washington sees India as an important partner and confirmed that trade negotiations were still ongoing.

On January 9, the Ministry of External Affairs said: “India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US by February 13 last year. So, since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiations to reach a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement.”

“We came close to agreement several times,” the MEA spokesperson added.