Despite threatening to apply a 25% tariff, President Donald Trump stated that India and the US were still discussing a trade deal, and a final decision might be made by the end of the week.
He added, “We’re talking to India now, we’ll see what happens,” on Wednesday, just hours after threatening to impose 25% tariffs and impose a 100% penalty on purchasers of Russian energy.
Having one of the highest tariffs in the world, he claimed, India was now “willing to cut it very substantially.”
When a reporter questioned him about the Russian penalty, he remained mute and instead discussed the 10% penalty he had suggested for the BRICS nations.
The morning threat seems to be a bargaining tactic that gives both nations flexibility to come to an agreement because he claims that talks are still ongoing.
Additionally, unlike some other nations, he has not sent a formal letter regarding the levies.
In response to the threat, India’s government declared that it “will take all steps necessary to secure our national interest.”
India suggested that one of the main points of contention in the talks was probably agriculture.
The press release read, “The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises).”
India’s extensive agricultural sector may be impacted by the US’s desire for it to open its markets to US dairy and agribusiness.
Though it hasn’t happened, Trump and his aides, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, had expressed hope that India would be one of the first to sign a pact.
India was one of the first nations to begin tariff-related trade talks with Washington, and Trump had stated time and time again that an agreement was on the horizon, most recently last week.
In a media interview in London last week, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the talks were making “fantastic” progress.
“I do hope we’ll be able to conclude a very consequential partnership,” he stated.
“India and the US have been engaged in negotiations on concluding a fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement over the last few months,” the country’s commerce ministry responded.
“We remain committed to that objective,” it stated.
When Trump addresses reporters at the White House, he refers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “a friend of mine,” as he typically does when discussing tariff disagreements.
He said with a smile, “It doesn’t matter too much whether we have a deal or whether we charge them a certain tariff, but you’ll know at the end of this week.”
He reiterated his rant about India’s high tariffs, claiming that although the US purchases a lot from India, the tariffs have caused the US to sell less there.
He said that with duties as high as 175%, India has the highest tariffs in the world, if not the highest.
He did not respond to a reporter’s question on the consequences of purchasing Russian electricity, instead deflecting into a discussion about BRICS and how it was “anti-United States.”
“India is a member of that, if you can believe it,” he stated.
“It’s an attack on the dollar, and we’re not going to let anybody attack the dollar,” he stated.
“It’s partially BRICS, and it’s partially the trade,” he remarked in reference to India.
Trump claimed in the Truth Social post that India has “always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine.”
“Everything is bad! Therefore, beginning on August 1st, India will be paying a 25% tariff in addition to a penalty for the aforementioned,” he added, capitalizing portions of the text in his own way.
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