Doha: US President Donald Trump on Thursday claimed that India has offered to drop all tariffs on American goods.
Speaking at a business roundtable in Doha, Trump also said he had a “little problem” with Tim Cook, and he told the Apple CEO that he does not want him to build iPhones in India.
Trump, who is in Qatar as part of his four-day visit to the Gulf region, was talking about Apple’s plans to make iPhones in India.
While Trump did not divulge the details of the purported offer, Trump’s comments come close on the heels of India threatening to impose retaliatory tariffs over higher duties on U.S. steel and aluminium, a stark departure from Indian government’s earlier stance of assuaging an assertive Trump, who avowed to work on the tariff imbalance the U.S. has with its allies and adversaries alike.
However, according to a Bloomberg report, the trade negotiations are on track, and the two countries are expected to announce a bilateral trade deal by fall. India was among the first countries to enter negotiations with the U.S. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Trump in February, a short while after his inauguration, to expedite the trade talks.
The Indian government also offered significant concessions to placate the Trump administration, including slashing import duties on high-ticket U.S. goods such as bourbon whiskey and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Despite the trade between the two countries being valued at an estimated $47 billion (₹3.92 lakh crore), Trump has, for the longest time, argued that the tariffs imposed by India on U.S.-made goods hurt U.S. businesses, and imposed 26% tariff rates on Indian goods, which will be implemented in July.
Trump’s comments also come after he earlier declared that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, after a military confrontation between the two countries that was the most intense since the 1971 war, and saw an exchange of armed drones, missiles, and armed shelling. Pakistan also launched a concerted attack on civilian infrastructure using loitering munitions.
However, India has not formally recognised President Trump’s role in negotiating the ceasefire. Bloomberg also reported that the Indian officials were caught off guard when Trump publicly declared, on his social media platform Truth Social, that a ceasefire was reached between the countries.
