India has issued a rebuttal after President Donald Trump claimed that India had proposed zero tariffs for all US goods. The remarks even as negotiations continued between the two countries — with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar noting on Thursday that a trade deal would need to be “mutually beneficial”.
“Between India and the US, trade talks have been going on. These are complicated negotiations. Nothing is decided till everything is. Any trade deal has to be mutually beneficial; it has to work for both countries. That would be our expectation from the trade deal. Until that is done, any judgment on it would be premature,” the EAM said.
According to a Bloomberg report, Trump had claimed on Thursday that the Indian government “offered us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariff,” at an event in Qatar. He addressed a gathering of business leaders without offering further details. Either way, the POTUS’ latest admission comes just days before India’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to visit the Trump administration officials in Washington, making India one of the first countries to kick off trade negotiations with America.
How India responded to Trump’s claims of zero tariffs
CNN News 18 cited a government source saying that while India wants tariff relief, it should work both ways. As an Indian delegation is already poised to meet with the US government this weekend, the official source maintained that a trade deal is yet to be finalised. They’ve advised anxious minds to await the official bilateral trade agreement for confirmations on the matter. Additionally, the government source redirected the focus to keeping the interest of farmers in mind, noting a refusal to budge on negotiations tied to pulses and rice.
Donald Trump’s reported chat with Apple’s Tim Cook: India can take care of itself
Meanwhile, Trump delivered his claims about a tariff deal with India in the same breath as his rejection of expanding the production of Apple products in the South Asian country. “I said I don’t want you building in India,” he said of his conversation with the tech giant’s CEO Tim Cook.
“My friend I treated you very good. You’re coming in with 500 billion dollars but now here you’re building all over India,” the Republican leader detailed what went down during his alleged chat with the Apple CEO. He then told Cook that he could proceed with his plans to build in India if he wanted to “take care of India,” but it would ultimately cost him.
Don’t build in India, focus on the US: Trump to Tim Cook
“India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world. It’s very hard to sell into India,” he added. “We’re not even a top 30 in India because the tariff is so high to a point where they have actually told us… there will be no tariffs… That’s the difference, they’re the highest and now they’re saying no tariff.” He then switched back to what he told Tim Cook: “We’ve treated you really good… we put up with all the plants that you built in China for years, now you got to build (for) us. We’re not interested in your building in India.”
He even went on to say that India is doing “very well” and did not need Cook’s help to “take care” of itself. The MAGA politician’s comments were fuelled by the same vigour that continues to double down on America’s self-reliance, as he noted Apple will be “upping their production in the United States.”
Contrary to the US president’s claims of India proposing zero tariffs on US goods, the Asian nation initially threatened to impose retaliatory levies to counter-strike US duties on steels and aluminium. And so, amid all the reported back-and-forth, even sources from the Indian government have urged people to keep their eyes peeled for official confirmations, expected to roll out after the trade minister’s visit to Washington.