Trump on India-US Trade Deal: Good news has arrived from the US regarding tariff cuts, and Donald Trump has announced a reduction of the reciprocal tariff on India to 18%. He has also made another significant claim regarding India’s purchase of Russian oil.
The deal between India and America has been finalized and with this, the confusion regarding the long-pending India-US trade deal has also almost ended. In fact, on Monday, after talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone, US President Donald Trump himself shared important information regarding the trade agreement. In a post on the social media platform Truth Social, he praised PM Modi and said that with immediate effect, we have agreed on a trade agreement between America and India. Along with this, he announced to reduce the 25% tariff imposed on India to 18%.
‘We reduced it, India will do the same’
Donald Trump, in his social media post, calling the Prime Minister his friend, said, “Out of our friendship and respect for PM Modi, we have agreed to an India-US trade deal with immediate effect at his request. Under this deal, the US tariff on India will be reduced from 25% to just 18%, while India will also move towards reducing its tariff on American goods to zero.”
Will the tariff be reduced from 50% to 18%?
Trump has announced a reduction in the tariff on India from 25% to 18%, but the big question here is that the 50% US tariff on India has been in effect since August 27th. In fact, in April of last year, the US President first imposed a 25% tariff on India, then doubled it to 50%, accusing Russian oil purchases of financially aiding Putin in the Ukraine war.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor has put an end to the confusion regarding this and has clarified, citing the conversation between Trump and PM Modi, that ‘India will be subject to a total tariff of only 18%.’ However, he clarified that due to paperwork and technicalities, it will definitely take some time, apart from this, a lot will also depend on India’s stance towards Russia, but in the end, the final number of US tariff on India will be 18% only.
Will India buy Venezuelan oil, not Russia? Both
Donald Trump and the US ambassador, besides agreeing on tariff cuts and a trade deal, have also raised the issue of Russian oil. On the one hand, the US President has once again claimed in his post that India will stop buying oil from Russia. On the other hand, Trump, who recently took control of Venezuela’s oil sector, said that apart from tariffs, we discussed many issues including energy, geopolitics and global security. He described Russian oil as the trigger point for the agreement between the two countries and said that India will reduce oil purchases from Russia, while in return will buy more oil and gas from America and possibly Venezuela.
Along with announcing the tariff cut, he also mentioned the commitment to expand the Buy American policy through an agreement between the two countries. He said that under this agreement, India is expected to purchase
more than $500 billion worth of American energy, technology, agricultural products, coal, and other products over time.
PM Modi’s tweet on Trump’s post
After US President Trump’s post, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also shared a post on the social media platform Twitter (now X) and wrote, ‘It was great to talk to President Trump. I am happy to know that ‘Made in India’ products will now attract a reduced tariff of 18%. Thank you on behalf of 1.4 billion people for this announcement. According to the Prime Minister, when two big economies and the world’s largest democracy work together, immense opportunities open up. Praising Donald Trump, he said that President Trump’s leadership is very important for global peace, stability and prosperity.
