Good news ahead as India and US near trade agreement, tariffs may drop

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Six rounds of trade negotiations have been held between India and the United States, but a final decision has not yet been reached. However, US President Donald Trump has consistently stated that a positive deal between the two countries is imminent. Meanwhile, a foreign agency has also indicated that an India-US trade agreement could be finalized in the near future, and the current 50 percent US tariff on India could be reduced to approximately 20 percent.

Good news coming soon! India-US trade deal imminent, tariffs likely to be reduced: Giving the latest information related to the trade deal, foreign brokerage Nomura has said in its latest note that despite the positive atmosphere regarding the trade agreement between America and India, no formal signing has taken place yet. Nevertheless, they estimate that this deal will be completed soon and the tariffs imposed on India may be reduced substantially. According to the brokerage firm, the stock market is also hopeful that this agreement may be reached by the end of the year.

Regarding the Indian economy, Nomura said that the country's GDP growth rate in the September quarter was 8.2 percent on an annual basis, compared to 7.8 percent in the June quarter. This indicates that the Indian economy has performed better than expected. Based on this, the firm has raised its GDP growth forecast for fiscal year 2026 from 7 percent to 7.5 percent.

Nomura's note also noted that the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee meeting, scheduled for a few days, will be crucial. Strong economic data appears to be diminishing expectations for a 25-basis-point repo rate cut, but Nomura maintained its forecast for a 25-basis-point cut in December, bringing the repo rate down to 5.25 percent. However, it reduced the probability of this cut from 65 percent to 60 percent.