Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,
President Donald Trump said on Nov. 10 that the United States was “pretty close” to reaching a trade deal with India that would be fair to both sides and indicated that he may lower tariffs on Indian goods.
“We’re making a deal with India, a much different deal than we had in the past,” he told reporters at the Oval Office. “We’re getting a fair deal, just a fair trade deal.”
Trump did not provide further details about the potential trade deal with India but said it would be “good for everybody.”
When asked whether the U.S. government would lower tariffs on imports from India, Trump suggested it is possible “at some point,” noting that India has recently reduced its purchases of Russian oil.
“Well, right now the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil, and they’ve stopped doing the Russian oil,” he said. “It’s been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down.”
India currently faces a total U.S. tariff rate of 50 percent, including a 25 percent tariff that Trump imposed in August over the country’s purchases of Russian crude.
Trump made the comments during the swearing-in ceremony of his envoy to India, Sergio Gor, whose role will focus on strengthening U.S.–India ties, promoting investment in key U.S. industries and technology, increasing U.S. energy exports, and expanding security cooperation, the president said.
During a White House press conference last week, Trump hinted that he could visit India next year at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“[Modi] largely stopped buying oil from Russia, and he’s a friend of mine, and we speak, and he wants me to go there. We’ll figure that out, I’ll go,” he said. “Prime Minister Modi is a great man, and I’ll be going.”
The U.S. president has previously warned that his administration would maintain its massive tariffs on imports from India if it continued to buy Russian oil amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
While Trump had repeatedly said that India has largely reduced its imports of Russian oil, the Indian government has not publicly confirmed any such cutback.
India has become a major market for Russian oil as Russia faces sanctions and export controls from Western nations aimed at pressuring Moscow to end its war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2022.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, India’s annual crude oil imports from Russia hovered at about $1 billion. Since the war began, imports have skyrocketed, reaching $25.5 billion in 2022, $48.6 billion in 2023, and $52.7 billion in 2024, according to the U.N. Comtrade database.
Trump signaled on Sept. 7 that his administration is ready to move forward with a second phase of sanctions against Russia, as negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine stalled and Moscow intensified its attacks on Kyiv.
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