Trump’s Trade Representative Says More Talks Needed With India As August Tariff Deadline Nears

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Monday that additional negotiations are needed with India to reach a trade deal before the Aug. 1 deadline, when new U.S. tariffs of up to 26% are set to take effect. 

Greer said the U.S. is still working to understand how far India is willing to go in the negotiations, noting that opening up its traditionally protected domestic market would represent a significant shift in policy for New Delhi, according to a Bloomberg report. 

His comments came just days after Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal struck a much more upbeat tone. 

Speaking from London last week, Goyal said he was confident a deal could be reached and downplayed any hurdles, adding that immigration topics like H-1B visas hadn’t even come up in this year’s talks. 

He described U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Greer, as "very dear friends." Despite the positive tone from both sides, the talks have been dragging on for months. 

The U.S. wants more access to India’s tightly regulated farm and dairy markets, while India has been pushing to ease tariffs on key exports, such as medicines and car parts. 

Trump has also threatened secondary sanctions on countries like India for buying oil from Russia, further complicating talks.

India recently signed a free trade agreement with the UK, which eliminates tariffs on products such as cars and alcohol. Goyal said similar talks are ongoing with the U.S., EU, New Zealand, Peru, and Chile.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment was ‘bullish’ for both the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and the iShares India 50 ETF (INDY), while sentiment for the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was ‘extremely bullish’, all amid ‘normal’ message volume.

So far this year, INDY is up just 1.1%, underperforming both SPY, which has gained 9%, and QQQ, up 11.4% year-to-date.

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