India’s Commerce Minister ‘Confident’ of US Trade Deal (1)

Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said he was optimistic that his country could reach an agreement with the US ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline to avert threatened tariffs of 26%.

“I’m always confident,” Goyal said in an interview Thursday with Bloomberg TV in London, when asked how he was feeling about the prospects for a pact.

“I’ve had some wonderful engagement with my friend and colleague from the US,” he said, calling US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer “very dear friends.”

Goyal insisted there weren’t any sticking points in the US-India relationship or in ...