CHENNAI: Even as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was landing in the US to discuss the progress of the long-drawn trade deal, US President Donald Trump said he would reduce the tariffs on India to 18 per cent from 25 per cent.
Announcing this on his social media platform, Truth Social, after speaking with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump claimed India would reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers against the United States to nil.
PM Modi also agreed to stop buying Russian oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela, Trump claimed, adding this would help end the war in Ukraine.
“Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a trade deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.
“They will likewise move forward to reduce their tariffs and non-tariff barriers against the United States, to zero,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi has committed to ‘buy American’ at a much higher level, in addition to over $500 billion dollars of US energy, technology, agricultural, coal, and many other products, Trump claimed.
“Our amazing relationship with India will be even stronger going forward. Prime Minister Modi and I are two people that GET THINGS DONE, something that cannot be said for most (sic),” he added in the post.
Earlier, the anticipation over the trade deal was triggered by US ambassador to India Sergio Gor, who took to social media to confirm that Trump spoke to PM Modi on Monday, apparently in an attempt to address the sharp downturn in the relations between the two countries.
The conversation between the two leaders came days after India inked a major trade deal with 27-nation European Union, an agreement that was widely seen as the two parties trying to fend off – or at least neutralise – the mercurial US president’s tariff tantrums.