US President Donald Trump has said in Qatar during a meeting with business leaders that India has made an offer to drop all tariffs on US goods.
Trump said the Indian government has “offered us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariff.” No further details on the 'offer' were shared, and the Indian government has not yet responded to the reports.
The statement comes just days ahead of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's US visit starting May 16 with a delegation to advance trade talks, government officials have said. Goyal’s visit follows US Vice President JD Vance’s trip to New Delhi in April in an effort to secure a deal to avoid US tariffs.
President Trump also told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he does not want him to make phones in India, targetting the iPhone maker's plans to diversify its global supply chain. "Told Apple CEO Tim Cook we're not interested in you building in India, they can take care of themselves," said Trump in Doha, a Bloomberg News report said.
“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said, adding, “He is building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.” Trump said Apple will be “upping their production in the United States,” as a result of his discussion.
Trump’s comments have come at a time when there has a growing frustration in India over the US president’s announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, following escalation of hostilities. The President used trade as a lever to secure truce, his social media posts have indicated, a development denied by Indian officials.
Read More: Trump’s premature message on the ceasefire is a setback for India-US ties
Trump had put his reciprocal tariffs on major trading partners on pause on April 7, barring China, and subsequently, Washington recently announced trade negotiations with Beijing. The United States and China agreed to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, which Trump called as a 'total reset', hinting that talks with Xi Jinping could soon follow.
The deal met nearly all of Beijing’s key demands and sent the US dollar and global equities soaring in a much-needed relief for Trump, as US inflation looked set rise again.
Moneycontrol had reported on May 13 that India's appeal as a 'China+1' alternate may lose sheen after the thaw between Washington and Beijing over a trade deal. According to Global Trade Research Initiative’s (GTRI) founder Ajay Srivastava, as the tariff gap narrows, companies that shifted production to countries such as India, Vietnam or Mexico may return to China.
EEPC India’s chairman Pankaj Chadha said he believes the US may still want an alternative to China, since Trump had taken a step back by agreeing to a deal with Beijing.
India is in the middle of a trade negotiation with the US, and talks are set to resume later this month. While the first tranche of the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) may be finalised only by September or October, India is said to be aiming to firm up talks in the next 45 days for a scaled-down version.
Just a day ago, India had proposed to impose retaliatory duties on the United States under WTO norms, in response to American tariffs on steel and aluminium. According to a WTO communication, these US safeguard measures would impact $7.6 billion worth of imports of relevant Indian-origin products, with an estimated duty collection of $1.91 billion.
This is being updated.
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