U.S President Donald Trump said on Thursday in Doha that India had offered the U.S a trade deal with zero tariffs.
New Delhi is seeking to clinch a trade deal with the U.S. within the 90-day pause on tariff hikes announced by Trump on April 9 for major trading partners, which had included a 26% tariff on India.
Trump was speaking at an event with business leaders in Doha where he announced a series of deals between the US and Qatar including for Boeing jets.
Speaking on Thursday at an event with business leaders in Qatar, Trump said the Indian government has “offered us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariff.”
Trump did not offer further details of New Delhi’s apparent offer and the Indian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
India has already lowered tariffs on Bourbon whiskey, motorcycles and some other US products, but the US has a $45bn trade deficit with India, which Trump wants to reduce.
According to Bloomberg, the US president also said he had told Apple CEO Tim Cook not to expand production in India.
"I said I don't want you building in India," Bloomberg quoted Trump as saying, about a conversation he said he had with Cook. He added that Apple will be "upping their production in the United States".
"You can build in India, if you want to take care of India because India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world, so it is very hard to sell in India,. India can take care of themselves," the US President said.
In an earnings call earlier this month, Apple had said it was shifting production of most iPhones from China to India while Vietnam would be a major production hub for items such as iPads and Apple watches.
