'Pretty Close' to a 'Fair Trade Deal' With India, Says Donald Trump

New Delhi: Washington is “pretty close” to reaching a “fair trade deal” with India, US President Donald Trump said on Monday (November 10), adding that he will lower the trade tariffs imposed on New Delhi “at some point”.

The US president made the remarks during a ceremony in the Oval Office, where Sergio Gor was sworn in as the US Ambassador to India by US vice president J.D. Vance.

“We're making a deal with India – a much different deal than we had in the past. So right now, they don't love me, but they'll love us. Again, uh, we're getting a fair deal, just a fair trade deal. We had pretty unfair trade deals. They're very good negotiators… But we're getting close, I think we're pretty close to doing a deal that's good for everybody,” Trump said.

When asked whether he was considering to lower the tariffs on India, he said, "Right now the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil and they've stopped doing the Russian oil. It's been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we're going to be bringing the tariffs down on India."

"I mean, at some point, we're going to be bringing them down," he repeats.

Trump has imposed a 50% tariff on Indian goods, including a 25% ‘penalty’ for buying Russian oil. 

Calling India a “very important relationship” for the US, the president also said that he would be trusting Gor to help strengthen it.

“We have a fantastic relationship with the Prime Minister Modi and Sergio has only enhanced that because he's become already friendly with the Prime Minister,” he said.

“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,” he added.

Earlier this month, the White House had stated that the US president speaks “pretty frequently” with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, and that “serious discussions” were continuing. 

“The president and his trade team continue to be in very serious discussions with India,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters on November 3. “I know the president has great respect for Prime Minister Modi, and they speak pretty frequently,” she had added.

Meanwhile, the US has also imposed sanctions on two of Russia’s biggest exporters of crude oil – Rosneft and Lukoil – a move that forced refiners in India to cut imports.

Reuters reported that a large delegation of Indian exporters will start a four-day visit to Moscow this week, as part of New Delhi's push to diversify export markets amid the impact of Trump's sharp tariff increases.

The visit comes ahead of an expected trip to India next month by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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