- Trump confirms India-US trade deal 'pretty close'.
- Deal will be 'much different' than earlier proposals.
- Piyush Goyal confirms legal drafting for deal underway.
India-US Trade Deal: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday stated that India and the United States are pretty close to finalizing a trade deal after months of negotiation. While addressing reporters at the White House, the US president asserted that the deal would be different than before. This comes days after US secretary of state Marco Rubio also stated that the long-pending deal could be finalized very soon.
What Donald Trump Said?
On being asked about the prospects of an agreement, the US president assured that both the countries are willing to make a deal, adding that the talks are in the final stage. "They want to make a deal. We're going to make a deal. Pretty close, yeah," Trump told reporters at the White House. He further stated that the deal that India and US will sign is very different from what was proposed earlier.
Watch: When asked whether a trade deal with India was close, US President Donald Trump says, "...We're going to make a deal...It's going to be a much different kind of a deal..." (Source: White House/YT) https://t.co/MEdQWAZWVC
— IANS (@ians_india) October 20, 2026
Earlier, Marco Rubio, while speaking in Mumbai, stated that while both the countries do not agree on everything, the core interests remain common. "No two nations on Earth will ever be perfectly aligned on every issue, and there will be times and points of disagreement," Rubio said. "But on the core issues that matter, the core issues that define the national interests of both India and the United States, the alignment between our countries is extraordinary," he added. The US secretary of state is on an official visit to India from October 20 to 21.
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Earlier, Marco Rubio, while speaking in Mumbai, stated that while both the countries do not agree on everything, the core interests remain common. "No two nations on Earth will ever be perfectly aligned on every issue, and there will be times and points of disagreement," Rubio said. "But on the core issues that matter, the core issues that define the national interests of both India and the United States, the alignment between our countries is extraordinary," he added. The US secretary of state is on an official visit to India from October 20 to 21.
Deal In Final Stages: Goyal
Earlier last week, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal stated that the deal is in the final stage, adding that legal drafting was underway. Goyal, on numerous occasions, stated that the deal would be in India's interest.
"US bilateral trade agreement’s first tranche has been finalised and it is going through final contours, the legal drafting, and we hope to be able to finalise that soon and operationalise that once we get the comparable advantage or competitive advantage over our peer countries," Goyal said at an event.