Rubio says US and India are close to trade deal as energy needs shape sanctions decisions
Marco Rubio said the two countries were very close to finalising a trade deal and explained why access to alternative energy supplies figures in US sanctions-waiver decisions.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on October 19 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, that the United States and India were very close to finalising a trade deal, a potential step toward more predictable trade terms. He said India’s energy needs also figured in Washington’s decisions about sanctions waivers linked to Russian oil.
What Rubio said about the trade talks and energy waivers
“We’re trying to finalise a trade deal with India right now. We’re very close to doing that,” Rubio told reporters, according to The Times of India. He described the negotiations as one consideration when the US president decides on national-security waivers. Rubio did not announce a signed agreement.
Rubio said the United States had waived some sanctions in recent months because of their effect on global energy supplies and prices. “Geography is real,” he said, arguing that some countries have difficulty obtaining alternative energy quickly. He described India as an important US ally and partner that had diversified its energy sources but still received a substantial amount from Russia.
Where the US-India negotiations stood
IANS described the trade negotiation as an exchange of lower, more predictable US tariffs on Indian goods for wider access to India’s market for American products. It reported that dairy access remained the biggest obstacle to the first part of an agreement. That account of the obstacle was IANS’s assessment; Rubio’s remarks addressed how close he believed the talks were, without setting out final terms.
IANS reported that Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had described the first tranche as finalised and in legal drafting, with implementation dependent on clarity about India’s competitive advantage. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had called the talks close to a “landing point.” Their descriptions concern progress on the agreement, while the date and terms of any completed deal remain unsettled.
The pace Rubio described differs from US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s assessment on October 2, when Greer said a deal was not imminent, according to IANS. Rubio was scheduled to visit Mumbai on Tuesday, October 20, to meet Jaishankar, The Times of India reported. The meeting would bring the officials together after Rubio’s latest public account of the talks.
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Sources and context
- 'Geography is real': Rubio says India-US trade deal close, explains Trump admin's stance on Russian oilThe Times of India
- Very close to finalising trade deal with India, says Marco RubioIANS
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.