Washington, Jan 28, 2026
India has surged ahead of the United States on trade deal-making this year, sharpening anxiety in Washington as the Trump administration’s tariff-driven strategy struggles to deliver results, according to comments by Henrietta Treyz, co-founder of Veda Partners.
“Down in (Washington) DC, the agita is over the fact that India now has inked 100 per cent more deals than Donald Trump this year,” Treyz told CNBC in an interview, pointing to growing frustration among US lawmakers over the administration’s inability to translate aggressive trade rhetoric into concrete agreements.
Treyz recalled the administration’s pledge earlier this summer to deliver rapid progress on trade. “In the 90 deals in 90 days period of time this summer, if you’ll recall that when (Treasury) Secretary (Scott) Bessent and USTR (Jamieson) Greer were out there, they promised those 90 deals in 90 days,” she said.
The reality, she added, has fallen well short of those expectations. “We have two deals in 10 months, and those are with Cambodia and Malaysia,” Treyz claimed, noting that “the South Korea deal has not moved forward.”
She described the situation as particularly troubling for US lawmakers because of where trade relations were before the current administration took office. “The irony and the trouble for lawmakers in India outpaces US on trade as tariff push falters. is that going into this administration, 96 per cent of trade with South Korea was covered by a free trade agreement,” Treyz said. “We had zero per cent tariffs.”
Against that backdrop, Treyz said the administration’s use of tariffs as leverage has failed to produce breakthroughs with key partners. “Now the cudgel that Trump has been blasting the EU, Japan, and South Korea with all year is not bearing fruit,” she said.
Domestic political costs are also mounting, she added, as public opinion turns against higher tariffs. “For lawmakers, the concern is that Americans don’t like the tariffs,” Treyz said. “50 per cent of Americans want the Supreme Court to strike them down.”
That resistance, she said, has complicated the administration’s economic messaging. “So they’re really struggling with the affordability message, with the idea that none of these trade deals are getting done, and it’s creating a lot of down-ballot concern,” Treyz said.
According to Treyz, the pressure is now squarely on the White House to address the political fallout. “The White House has to confront that,” she said, as President Trump seeks to reassure voters about the economy.
Trade policy remains a drag, she said. “These trade deals and the tariffs are weighing on the American psyche and pulling the president’s numbers down and therefore the Republican conference’s numbers down nationwide.”
Treyz suggested that the broader political impact of stalled trade progress is becoming harder to ignore, even as the administration continues to emphasize a “sell America” approach to economic engagement.(Agency)
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