US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said that India and the US are “very, very close” to finalising a trade agreement. Currently on his second official India visit, Rubio sounded hopeful of a deal being finalised soon.
The US has earlier criticised India’s purchase of Russian oil and had even attributed it as the reason for imposing 50% tariffs on Indian imports last year.However, the duties were later taken down to 18% as trade talks between both sides progressed.
I think there’s a small number of items left to wrap up, so I think that will happen shortly,” Rubio said. The Trump official said that he hopes there is a good news to announce soon. “So, we’re very optimistic that we will have something in place here very soon,” he said.
“The State Department doesn’t negotiate trade agreements, but we are very much involved in what’s happening…We’re very, very close. I would say we’re about as close as you can be without having executed the agreement.
Prior to that, US President Donald Trump had announced a diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian energy, seeking to cushion the impact of soaring fuel prices in the US. Rubio’s remarks came days after the US waived some sanctions on Russia just as they were set to take effect.
Both moves marked a significant departure from the Trump administration’s earlier hard-line stance on Russian energy imports and countries purchasing Russian oil.
