The United States and India took a major leap in strengthening their bilateral ties amid prolonged tensions linked to a much-delayed trade deal between the two countries. Leading news outlets from India and the US quickly jumped on the bandwagon to report the breakthrough, marking a significant step-off from New Delhi’s 50% tariff dilemma.
Instead of an official document detailing the official clauses agreed upon between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both leaders chose to break the news via their official social media handles. Even therein, the kind of vocabulary used by them in their posts is conspicuously different from each other.
While Trump outrightly labelled the development as a “Trade Deal” on Truth Social, Modi’s tweet on X held back from using those words. The Indian PM chose to simply single out the staggering reduction in the tariffs to 18%. On the flip side New Delhi is reducing its tariffs on US goods to “zero.”
On Truth Social, Trump highlighted that the previous 25% “reciprocal” tariff rate would drop to 18%, thanks to New Delhi’s commitment to “buy American” (and potentially Venezuelan). He also pointed to Modi’s decision to “stop buying Russian oil” altogether, hinting at the complete cancellation of the additional 25% tariffs India was hit with over its Russian oil purchases.
Formal details on when India will entirely stop buying Russian crude oil are awaited. A White House official, as cited by numerous US reports, had also hinted that the punitive Russian oil-linked tariffs on India will be dropped, thereby bringing the final tariff level from 50% to 18%.
Despite PM Modi shying away from mentioning the words “trade deal” on social media, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal blatantly hailed the “landmark trade agreement” between “two like-minded, fair-trading democracies.”
How US media covered India-US trade deal
Leading American news outlets put the onus of the said “trade deal” primarily on US President Donald Trump, taking into account the push back due to “months of diplomatic tensions.”
Outlets like the Washington Post prominently highlighted how the US-India relations had “soured” following India’s conflict with Pakistan in May and the POTUS’ “decision to single out India for becoming a leading global customer of Russian oil.”
The New York Times foregrounded that while the “agreement was short on details,” it already “appeared likely to defuse some of the tensions between the United States and India.”
The US outlet further noted that the 50% tariffs “hurt India’s attractiveness as a manufacturing hub, particularly for companies that have tried to move factories out of China.” It went on to cite analysts saying that the deal would “reverse” that problem and “help to pull India back into a strategic alliance with the United States.”
Numerous article titles floated by American outlets made it seem as if Trump was the one pulling the strings by highlighting his stance as the primary subject in their headlines.
While many were focussed on breaking the word about the “much-awaited trade deal,” outlets like Politico and NYT made it a point to establish that the details surrounding the deal had not been expounded in a formal notice. “The White House has not yet issued a formal order to lower India’s duties or a fact sheet with the full details of what each side agreed to,” Politico reported.
Here are some of the headlines pushed by US news outlets:
- CNN: “Trump slashes tariffs on India after he says Modi agrees to stop buying Russian oil”
- CNBC: “Trump says U.S. and India reached trade deal, will lower tariffs immediately”
- New York Times: “Trump Announces Trade Deal With India to Reduce Tariffs”
- New York Post: “Trump says US, India have trade deal after Modi phone call”
- Politico: “Trump announces long-awaited trade deal with India”
- Fox Business: “Trump says US and India agree to trade deal to lower tariffs”
- The Washington Post: “U.S. and India seal trade deal after months of diplomatic tensions”
- The Hill: “Trump says he’s reached a trade deal with India after Modi commits not to buy Russian oil”
- The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Will Cut Tariffs on India to 18% in Trade Deal”
How Russian media covered US-India trade deal
Russia Today (RT) was among the first ones from the country to push out a breaking story on the major development. In contrast with America’s coverage of the issue, RT chose to equally put the Indian and US leaders on a pedestal.
“Trump and Modi announce US-India trade deal,” read the RT article’s headline.
The Russian outlet noticeably called out PM Mod not commenting on the “on the claim that New Delhi would stop buying Russian oil” in his tweet, while only saying that the country “fully supports (Trump’s) efforts for peace.”
The English translation for the headline used by RIA Novosti (Ria.ru), which is one of the most cited Russian news agencies in the mass media, read: “Trump said Modi agreed to give up Russian oil.”
Much like RT highlighting that the Indian PM hadn’t addressed claims about New Delhi dropping Russian oil purchases altogether, Ria.ru also pointed out Trump’s announcement banking on Modi’s “alleged” agreement to “Russian oil supplies and increase them from the US, and possibly even begin importing oil from Venezuela.”