Expect trade deal with India in not too distant future… very optimistic: US Commerce Secretary

Lutnick was speaking at the eighth edition of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) in Washington D C. This is the first time that business leaders from the QUAD grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the US will be honoured at the USISPF summit.

I spoke at the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum Annual Leadership Summit tonight.

We have a great relationship between our countries. I’m optimistic for a trade deal soon that will benefit both nations.

🇺🇸🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/BCO8UYx7Wc

— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) June 3, 2025

“When they put the right person in India, put the right person on the other side of the table, and we’ve managed (that), I think,” Lutnick said in his keynote address. When asked if he was quite optimistic about the deal, he said he was “very optimistic”.

Later, in a post on X with his video statement, he added: “We have a great relationship between our countries. I’m optimistic for a trade deal soon that will benefit both nations.”

In the last week of May, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal led a delegation to Washington, where he met Lutnick to push for bilateral trade negotiation. New Delhi aims to wrap up talks by the end of the 90-day reciprocal tariffs pause, which ends on July 9, The Indian Express had learnt.

India is seeking the elimination of the 26 per cent reciprocal tariff and duty-free entry for labour-intensive export items such as textiles and footwear in the US. The deal is expected to cover a limited range of goods and services, with the US seeking market access in India for items including agricultural products.

On what India did to ‘rub US wrong way’

Calling India an “extraordinary economy”, Lutnick said buying military gear from Russia was among the few things that “the Indian government did that generally rubbed the US the wrong way”. He then went on to say that New Delhi is now moving towards procuring military equipment from the US, “which then goes a long way”.

“For instance, you generally buy your military gear from Russia. That’s a way to kind of get under the skin of America if you’re going to buy your armaments from Russia. I think India starting to move towards buying military equipment from the United States, which then goes a long way,” he said at the USISPF.

Further, he also mentioned India being part of the BRICS as not really “the way to make friends and influence people in America”. “And these kind of things just creating that relationship being a part of BRICS, which is, oh, let’s move to not support the dollar and dollar hegemony. That’s not really the way to make friends and influence people in America. The President calls that out directly and specifically,” Lutnick said.

#WATCH | Washington DC | US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick says, “…There were certain things that the Indian government did that generally rubbed the United States the wrong way. For instance, you generally buy your military gear from Russia. That’s a way to kind of get… pic.twitter.com/CxoqRZQLJ2

— ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2025

He then reiterated that the India is addressing it specifically. “And that’s how you move on to a really positive place. Put it on the table, address it straight on, resolve it straight on and get to a really good place. And I think that’s where we are…,” he added.

What Trump said on India-US deal

On Friday, Trump had also cautioned that continued tensions between India and Pakistan could jeopardise progress.

“Pakistan representatives are coming in next week. We’re very close to making a deal with India. And I wouldn’t have any interest in making a deal with either if they were going to be at war with each other,” he said, speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews.

–With PTI inputs