US President Donald Trump on Monday held out the hope of reducing tariffs on India but did not provide a timeline, stating that the two countries were “pretty close to doing a deal that is good for everybody”.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the US ambassador-designate to India, Sergio Gor, at the White House, Trump said: “We are making a deal with India, much different deal than we had in the past. Right now, they don’t love me, but they’ll love us again. We’re getting a fair deal, just a fair trade deal… they are very good negotiators…. We’re pretty close to doing a deal that is good for everybody.”
Later, responding to a question on whether the US will consider lowering the current tariff rate on India, Trump said: “Right now, the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil. And, they have stopped doing the Russian oil. It’s been reduced substantially. Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down… at some point we are going to be bringing them down.”
He did not provide a timeline for when the trade deal will be inked or when the high tariffs, including a 25 per cent additional levy for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil, will be rolled back. Right now, India is the most tariffed country by the US at 50 per cent.
In his remarks, the President also dwelt on the India-US relationship, stating that he has entrusted Gor with strengthening one of the most important international relationships for Washington.
“India is home to one of the world’s oldest civilisations, the largest country in the world, actually, and it’s got over 1.5 billion people. We have a fantastic relationship with Prime Minister Modi, and Sergio has only enhanced that because he’s already become friendly with the Prime Minister…. It’s a very important relationship, but it’s also the fastest-growing middle class, and it’s an important economic and strategic security partner in the Indo-Pacific region...,” Trump said.