US commerce secretary expects India trade deal soon

US commerce secretary expects India trade deal soon
Howard Lutnick, a strong advocate of tariffs, said he was a “great fan” of India — but voiced longstanding concern about the emerging economy’s use of tariffs. (Reuters)
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Updated 03 June 2025

US commerce secretary expects India trade deal soon

US commerce secretary expects India trade deal soon

WASHINGTON: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Monday voiced optimism for a trade deal soon with India to avoid tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump.
“You should expect a deal between the United States and India in the not too distant future,” he told the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, which promotes relations between the two countries, calling himself “very optimistic.”
Trump has set a delayed deadline of July 9 for countries to avoid sweeping tariffs, as he seeks to shake up the global economy to correct what he says is unfairness to the United States.
Lutnick, a strong advocate of tariffs, said he was a “great fan” of India — but voiced longstanding concern about the emerging economy’s use of tariffs.
On tariff negotiations with India, “bringing them down to a level that is reasonable and appropriate so we can be great trading partners with each other, I think is absolutely on the table,” Lutnick said.
“There were certain things that the Indian government did that generally rubbed the United States the wrong way. For instance, they generally buy military gear from Russia,” he said.
But he said that Trump believed in raising concerns and “the Indian government is addressing it specifically and directly.”


Pilot error caused deadly Bangladesh jet crash: govt

Updated 17 sec ago

Pilot error caused deadly Bangladesh jet crash: govt

Pilot error caused deadly Bangladesh jet crash: govt
“There was an error in his take-off,” Yunus’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam told reporters.
More than 170 people were injured in the crash, many badly burned

DHAKA: Pilot error was to blame when a fighter jet smashed into a Bangladesh school in July, killing 36 people in the country’s worst aviation crash in decades, the government said on Wednesday.
Pupils had just been let out of class when the Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft slammed into the private Milestone School and College in Dhaka on July 21.
The government announced the findings of a committee report into the crash after it was submitted to the interim leader, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
“There was an error in his take-off,” Yunus’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam told reporters.
More than 170 people were injured in the crash, many badly burned.
The military had initially said that the 27-year-old pilot was on a routine training mission when the jet “reportedly encountered a mechanical failure.”
He tried to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas but crashed into the two-story school building.
The crash sparked anger and demands that the air force shift its training programs from the densely populated capital.
The air force had initially rejected those demands, saying a base in the capital was important for strategic reasons.
However, Alam said the report recommended that the air force “conduct its training outside Dhaka.”
It also advised that the Civil Aviation Authority ensure “infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, warehouses, and small industries are not built near airports.”