- NEW DELHI — US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that India has offered
to enter a bilateral trade deal with the US that “basically” proposes that
"no tariffs" would be levied on a range of American goods.
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- "They are offering us a deal where basically they
are willing to literally charge us no tariffs," Trump said during a
meeting with business executives in Qatar’s capital Doha where he is on a state
visit.
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- However, Trump did not offer any further details.
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- The US President also said that he told Apple CEO Tim
Cook to give up his plan of setting up more manufacturing facilities in India
and focus on building these plants in the US instead. “Apple will be upping its
production in the United States,” Trump added.
Also read: Qatar, US sign major deals to boost cooperation
- As part of ongoing discussions on the India-US Bilateral
Trade Agreement, representatives of India’s Department of Commerce and the
Office of the US Trade Representative held fruitful discussions, at a meeting
in Washington, from April 23-25, to conclude the first tranche of the Bilateral
Trade Agreement by the fall (September-October) of 2025.
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- This followed earlier bilateral discussions held in
March, 2025 in New Delhi.
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- “During the meetings in Washington, D.C., the team had
fruitful discussions on wide ranging subjects covering tariff and non-tariff
matters. The team discussed the pathway for concluding the first tranche of the
mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement by Fall of 2025,
including through opportunities for early mutual wins,” the Commerce Ministry
had said,
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- While productive sectoral expert level engagements have
taken place through the virtual format, in-person sectoral engagements are
planned from end May, the statement said.
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- The productive discussions are part of bilateral efforts
in line with 'Leaders’ Statement of February 2025' to enhance and expand
India-US economic ties and supply chain integration through the Bilateral Trade
Agreement, it added.
