U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said several large trade agreements were still waiting to be completed, including with Switzerland and India, but the Southeast Asian country had been "a bit recalcitrant" in talks with the United States.
Bessent told Fox Business Network's "Kudlow" he hoped the Trump administration could wrap up its trade negotiations by the end of October.
"That's aspirational, but I think we are in a good position," he said, adding " I think we can be, we will have agreed on substantial terms with all the substantial countries."
US President Donald Trump has said that there will be no trade talks with India till the tariff issue is resolved.
A few industries, such as auto, textile, leather, gems, and jewellery, are likely to be particularly affected by the high US tariff.
The government on Monday asserted that certain red lines cannot be crossed in the trade negotiations with the US and that it is making "focused efforts" as part of an export diversification strategy to mitigate the adverse impact of the high tariff imposed by the US, sources said.
US-China trade
U.S. trade officials will meet again with their Chinese counterparts within the next two or three months to discuss the future of the economic relationship between the two countries, Bessent said on Tuesday. According to him, Chinese President Xi Jinping had invited Trump to a meeting, but one had not been scheduled.
"There's no date," Bessent said. "The president hasn't accepted yet."
The comments come a day after the trading partners extended a tariff truce for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other's goods.
Trump told CNBC earlier this month that the U.S. and China were getting very close to a trade agreement and he would meet Xi before the end of the year if a deal was struck.
Bessent also said on Fox Business that the U.S. will need to see "months, if not quarters, if not a year" of progress on fentanyl flows before it considers reducing tariffs on China.
Washington accuses Beijing of failing to curb the flow of precursor chemicals for fentanyl, a leading cause of U.S. overdose deaths. Beijing has defended its drug control record and accused Washington of using fentanyl to "blackmail" China.
Trump imposed 20% tariffs on Chinese imports over the issue in February, and they have remained in effect despite a fragile trade truce reached by both sides in Geneva in May. An additional 10% base tariff has also been imposed on Chinese imports.