Despite US President Donald Trump’s earlier claims that Washington would sign 90 deals in 90 days, it is India that has concluded more deals than the US, said Henrietta Treyz, managing partner and head of economic policy research at Veda Partners. She added that Americans are also reluctant to impose tariffs on their trading partners.
Speaking to CNBC, Treyz said: “India now has 100% more deals than Donald Trump this year. If you remember, they promised 90 deals in 90 days – we have two deals in 10 months, and those are for Cambodia and Malaysia.” His comments come after India and the EU signed a mammoth trade deal, billed as the “mother of all deals”.
Treyz said the U.S.-South Korea deal also didn’t go through due to a host of issues. South Korea is covered by a free trade agreement with the United States, she said. However, Trump has threatened the EU, Japan and South Korea with tariffs.
“For lawmakers, the concern is that Americans don’t like the tariffs. 50 percent of Americans want the Supreme Court to strike them down… These trade deals and tariffs are taking a toll on the American psyche and dragging down the president’s numbers,” she said.
Many experts have noted that India and the EU are looking for a way to diversify from the United States due to its tariffs and pressures. The India-EU FTA would then benefit both parties.
India is in the highest tariff bracket of 50 percent, including 25 percent imposed by Trump for India’s purchase of Russian oil. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there was still a “pathway” to removing the 25 percent tariff.
“I guess there is a way to eliminate them. So it’s a failure and a huge success,” he added, criticizing Europe for not imposing tariffs on India. “Our virtuous European allies refused to do it (impose tariffs) because they wanted to sign this big trade deal with India,” he said.
Bessent said Russian oil purchased by India would be refined and the refined products would be sold to Europeans. “They are financing the war against themselves,” he declared for the umpteenth time.
