New Delhi: US President Donald Trump claimed that India has offered to enter a bilateral trade deal with the US that “basically” proposes that "no tariffs" would be levied on a range of American goods. "They are offering us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariffs," Trump said during a meeting with business executives in Qatar’s capital Doha where he was on a state visit.
However, Trump did not offer any further details. The US President also said that he told Apple CEO Tim Cook to give up his plan of setting up more manufacturing facilities in India and focus on building these plants in the US instead. “Apple will be upping its production in the United States,” Trump added.
On his claim, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said the ongoing negotiations are complex and far from final. "Between India and the US, trade talks have been going on. These are complicated negotiations. Nothing is decided till everything is. Any trade deal has to be mutually beneficial; it has to work for both countries. That would be our expectation from the trade deal. Until that is done, any judgment on it would be premature," Jaishankar said while speaking to reporters in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Washington in February this year, held talks with Trump on negotiating the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement by the fall of 2025. The two leaders resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation. To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade -- "Mission 500" -- aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
Later, after claiming he had a significant role in brokering the recent ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Trump has watered down his contribution. While addressing a crowd of US military personnel in Qatar, he said, "I don't wanna say I did but I sure as hell helped settle the problem between Pakistan and India last week, which was getting more and more hostile and all of a sudden you'll start seeing missiles of a different type and we got it settled”.
