New Delhi: The White House has said that US president Donald Trump speaks "pretty frequently" with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

The two countries have not arrived at a trade deal yet and India continues to suffer a 50% tariff imposition on its exports, 25% of which is a "penalty" for purchasing Russian oil.

"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 added.

Last week, the US imposed sanctions on two of Russia's biggest exporters of crude oil, Rosneft and Lukoil. The move has led refiners in India to cut imports.

Trump has continued to make claims of having used trade to bring tensions down between India and Pakistan in May. At the APEC Summit in late October, Trump said that he had used the threat of a 250% tariff imposition with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. India maintains that no foreign leader had intervened to halt Operation Sindoor.

Trump, at the same address, said that the US is “doing” a new trade deal with India.

Meanwhile, according to data released by the Global Trade Research Initiative, India’s exports to the United States, its biggest market, have seen a massive 37.5% decline between May and September 2025. There is a $3.3 billion difference between the value of exports in May ($8.8 billion) and September ($5.5 billion).

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