
India and US very close to trade deal: Trump
'We're very close to a deal with India where they open it (the market) up,' Trump told reporters at the White house on Wednesday. Later in the day, he reiterated that the deal with India was 'very close' when asked about upcoming trade agreements in an interview with broadcaster Real America's Voice.
India and the US have been locked in intense negotiations over the past few months, aiming to reach an agreement before steep tariffs kick in. Trump had first announced 27% tariffs on Indian goods in 2 April as part of a wider trade policy move.
While the tariffs were initially paused until 9 July, the US later extended the deadline to 1 August. An Indian delegation is in the US this week for discussions on the agreement, Reuters reported, citing sources in the Indian government. Last month, a team of Indian officials extended their stay in Washington for another round of talks.

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Time of India
26 minutes ago
- Time of India
Shield for mass market, drive-in for luxe cars
India will slash duties on high-end cars from the United Kingdom under the free trade deal signed on Thursday, while protecting the mass-market segment where Indian manufacturers are gaining global ground. "Vehicles priced below £40,000 (about ₹46 lakh including cost, insurance and freight), where Indian automakers are highly active, have been explicitly excluded from any duty concession," an explanatory note released by the commerce ministry said. "The concessions are targeted largely at large engine capacity ICE vehicles- above 3000 cc petrol or 2500 cc diesel and high-end EVs priced above £80,000 (CIF)...providing a protective shield to the mass-market EV segment," it said. The deal is likely to benefit luxury car brands such as Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, McLaren, Lotus, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and BMW Mini, which currently face steep import duties of about 110% in India. Under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), India will gradually reduce customs duties to 10% for a specific quota of high-end vehicles over five years. For out-of-quota imports, the duty cut will be limited to 50% over 10 years. Notably, no duty concessions will be extended to EVs, hybrids, or hydrogen-powered vehicles during the first five years of the agreement. From the sixth year, the number of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles permitted under the concessional regime will decrease in proportion to the number of EVs imported, with the total import quota capped at 37,000 vehicles over 15 years. JLR, the Tata Motors-owned British marque, welcomed the deal even though many of its products being sold in India will not benefit. "India is an important growth market for our British-built luxury products," said a JLR India spokesperson. Around 60% of the cars JLR sells in India, including popular models in the Range Rover portfolio - Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Velar and Evoque - are already locally produced through the CKD route. "Only a limited number of high-value SV models are currently exported from the UK to India and therefore in scope of the FTA," said the spokesperson. Defender, which is manufactured in Slovakia, too, falls outside its scope. Benefit from the trade deal will depend on brand-wise allocation under the duty concession quota, a spokesperson at a European carmaker said. Clarity on pricing will only emerge once the final legal text is released and approved, the person added. On the components side, Shradha Suri Marwah, president of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), said the FTA is expected to boost exports, streamline regulatory processes, and foster collaboration in electric mobility, precision engineering, lightweight materials, and R&D.


Mint
26 minutes ago
- Mint
Dip in Asian currencies, outflows likely to keep up pressure on rupee
MUMBAI (Reuters) -The Indian rupee is expected to open weaker on Friday and trade with a modest depreciation bias amid a dip in its regional peers and lingering pressure from portfolio outflows as investors gird for an upcoming news-heavy week. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated the rupee will open around 86.48-86.50 versus the U.S. dollar, compared with 86.4050 in the previous session. Asian currencies were down between 0.1% and 0.3%, while the dollar index ticked up to 97.5, as investors braced for U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff deadline, a Federal Reserve policy decision, and key U.S. economic data releases, all due next week. The rupee is expected to trade with a slight downward bias and could test support near 86.70-86.80 in the near term, a trader at a state-run bank said. While there is "nascent" interbank interest in taking long bets on the rupee, that is largely on the back of the market expecting some positive announcement on U.S.-India trade negotiations, the trader added. While optimism about U.S. trade deals with China and the European Union has picked up after an agreement with Japan, the prospects of a deal for India ahead of the August 1 deadline have dimmed. Britain and India signed a free trade agreement on Thursday, with India's trade minister saying that he remains confident of concluding a trade deal with the U.S. while downplaying the significance of the looming deadline. "Beyond tariffs and the rush to close the art of the deal, one continuing theme that we see in Asia and many countries outside the U.S. is the acceleration in moves to diversify away from or at least hedge with the U.S.," MUFG said in a note. In addition to the wait for a trade agreement with the U.S., foreign portfolio outflows have been a pain point for the rupee with overseas investors pulling out about $500 million from local stocks over July so far. ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 86.60; onshore one-month forward premium at 12.50 paisa ** Dollar index up 0.1% at 97.58 ** Brent crude futures up 0.5% at $69.5 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.4% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $382mln worth of Indian shares on July 23 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $41.7mln worth of Indian bonds on July 23 (Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Eileen Soreng)


Mint
26 minutes ago
- Mint
Q1 results today: Bajaj Finserv, Bank of Baroda, Cipla, others to declare quarterly earnings on Tuesday — 25 July 2025
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