US President Donald Trump has said that he was looking at “potential deals” with India, Japan and South Korea but was not in a hurry as these countries needed the US and not the other way round. Anticipating tough negotiations on the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) that would soon begin, the Commerce Department is taking a hard look at the rationale of India’s existing tariffs and trade restrictions, including ones on agricultural products and use of quality control orders, sources said. “Well, we have potential deals with that,” Trump clarified when asked at a town hall on Wednesday about reports of deals with South Korea, Japan, and India. “But I’ll tell you this, I’m in less of a hurry than you are. We are sitting on the catbird seat. They want us. We don’t need them,” Trump said. Trump’s recent statement comes just a day after he talked enthusiastically about tariff negotiations with India “coming along great” and that he expected a deal. Top US officials, including White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, had also stated earlier this week that the deal with India was “close” and negotiations were moving “as fast as possible” in “Trump time”. “Trump is a tough negotiator and he is obviously playing it tough. Indian negotiators will have to be very careful when negotiations begin and know exactly how much can be offered and what the red lines are,” a source tracking the development told businessline. The Commerce Department has send out communication seeking inputs from other Ministries and the industry on the purpose the existing tariffs and restrictions served. “It has also asked stakeholders to specify the impact of recent tariff cuts announced in the budget. The idea is to gauge to what extent can the industry do without tariff and non-tariff protection,” the source said. The US, which has dangled the reciprocal tariff threat on India and many other countries, has emphasised that it expected New Delhi to bring down its tariffs considerably on various items, including automobiles, motor cycles, whisky and agricultural products. “For India, negotiating tariff cuts for agriculture and dairy items is tough because of domestic sensitivities and food security issues. India needs time to minutely understand the impact of tariff cuts on its people before taking on commitments,” the source said. On April 2, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on most countries that have trade surpluses with the US, including India which got slapped with 26 per cent levies. But he paused them for 90 days (except a baseline tariff of 10 per cent that continues to be levied) to give time for trade deals. As part of ongoing discussions on the India-US BTA, officials from India and the US met in Washington DC from April 23-25. While productive sectoral expert level engagements have taken place virtually, in-person engagements are planned from May end. Published on May 1, 2025