Trump confident of India trade deal despite new tariff threat
AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump has expressed confidence that India and the US will soon reach a trade deal, even as fresh tariff proposals from his administration threaten to complicate negotiations.
"We'll get to a deal, because I like your prime minister a lot," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. "He's a good friend of mine. We get along great, and we're going to make a deal."
His comments came after a US delegation, led by chief negotiator Brendan Lynch, held several days of talks in Delhi aimed at finalising an interim trade agreement between the two countries.
India's commerce ministry said both sides remained committed to reaching a mutually beneficial bilateral trade pact.
But the talks this week also faced certain unexpected hurdles.
Even as the US delegation was still in Delhi, the US trade department proposed new tariffs on dozens of countries over concerns they were not doing enough to tackle forced labour.
India was on the list, facing an additional 12.5% tariff on its exports to the US.
Delhi has said that the proposed tariffs are not yet final and that the US Trade Representative would consider public comments and testimony before taking a final decision. It added that talks on a broader trade agreement were continuing.
Meanwhile, Trump also repeated his criticism of India's trade policies, saying the country had for years "taken advantage" of the US through high tariffs.
"They charged us tremendous tariffs and paid nothing...Now it is the exact reverse and we are making a lot of money with India," he told reporters on Thursday.
India was among the first countries to open trade talks with the US last year, but a final agreement is yet to be reached.
The two countries agreed to a framework of the interim deal in February and had been expected to finalise it in March. But the talks were overshadowed by uncertainty after the US Supreme Court struck down many of Trump's tariffs, ruling them "illegal".
At one point, the US imposed tariffs of up to 50% on some Indian goods before cutting them to 18% in February. After the top court ruling, they were reduced to 10%.
This slash in duty came after India in February committed to buying more American goods, including energy, aircrafts, technology and agricultural products worth $500bn.
