India Belies Trump Claim It Will Not Slap Tariffs On U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that India has agreed to eliminate all tariffs on American imports has been swiftly disputed by New Delhi, Nikhil Inamdar reported for BBC News.

India and the U.S. are currently negotiating a trade agreement. I Photo: Mumbai Port Trust

India’s foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, told local news agencies that negotiations are still ongoing and “nothing is decided till everything is.”

His statement sharply contrasted with Trump’s remarks earlier that day, when the president declared that Delhi had “offered us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariff.”

India and the U.S. are currently negotiating a trade agreement. Jaishankar emphasized that any deal must be mutually beneficial. “That would be our expectation from the trade deal. Until that is done, any judgment on it would be premature,” he said.

Trump made his comments during a speech to business leaders in Doha, where he also announced a series of deals between the U.S. and Qatar, including purchases of Boeing jets.

While discussing Apple’s plans to manufacture iPhones in India, Trump said he told CEO Tim Cook he opposed the move because India is “one of the highest tariff nations in the world.”

Bloomberg reported that Trump appears to be the only party publicly discussing a tariff deal with India.