Trump made the comments during a business roundtable in Doha, Qatar, on his Mideast tour, first discussing Apple’s plans to build manufacturing plants for its iPhone there.
Doha: US President Donald Trump has claimed that India has offered to drop tariffs on American goods to zero as part of efforts to strike a new trade agreement with Washington. However, this has not been acknowledged by New Delhi yet.
According to news agency PTI, Trump made the comments during a business roundtable in Doha, Qatar, on his Mideast tour, first discussing Apple’s plans to build manufacturing plants for its iPhone there.
“It’s very hard to sell into India and they’ve offered us a deal with what basically they’re willing to literally charge us no tariff,” Trump was quoted as saying the report.
India is a close partner of the US and is part of the Quad, which is made up of the US, India, Japan and Australia, and is seen as a counterbalance to China’s expansion in the region.
Earlier, the US President announced a 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on all goods imported from India.
Meanwhile, India proposed to impose retaliatory import duty on certain US products in response to American tariffs on steel and aluminium.
However, Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) feels that the move could cast a shadow over ongoing negotiations for a trade agreement between the two countries.
The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that if the US engages in consultations with India on the matter or withdraws tariffs, a resolution may be reached.
Otherwise, India’s retaliatory import duties could take effect in early June, potentially impacting US exporters and deepening trade frictions, it added.
In a significant move targeting US safeguard duties on steel, aluminium, and their derivative products, India has formally notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of its intention to suspend trade concessions granted to the US.
The proposed suspension of concessions could take the form of increased tariffs on selected US products. While India has not disclosed those items yet, in a similar move in 2019, it had imposed retaliatory tariffs on 28 US products, ranging from almonds and apples to chemicals.
With PTI inputs
