In a major development from Doha on Thursday, US President Donald Trump revealed that India has offered a trade deal to the United States which would see "basically zero tariffs" on a broad range of American goods, reported Reuters.
"India offered US a deal, basically zero tariffs," the Republican leader said during the second leg of his three-nation West Asia tour.
Trump’s latest comments follow his earlier remarks on April 30, when he said that talks with India on tariff issues were “going great” and expressed confidence in reaching a final deal soon. Speaking at an event in Michigan, he noted, “India tariff talks are going great, think we'll have a deal soon.”
Washington and New Delhi have been engaged in a flurry of ongoing high-level trade negotiations to resolve tariff and market access issues.
According to a report by Reuters on May 9, India had proposed to reduce its average tariff differential with the US from around 13% to under 4%—a 9-percentage-point drops. This would be among the most comprehensive moves by India to align its trade policies with major global partners.
Under the proposed deal, India has offered to bring duties down to zero on 60% of tariff lines in the first phase. The news agency had further reported that the PM Modi-led government had offered preferential access to nearly 90% of goods imported from the US, according to two Indian officials involved in the talks.
In exchange, India is seeking a full exemption from both existing and potential future U.S. tariff hikes—something that has not been fully granted even in Washington’s recent ..
On April 10, the United States temporarily suspended additional tariffs on Indian exports for a 90-day period, effective until July 9. The pause was seen as a goodwill gesture and an effort to build momentum in trade discussions.
This development followed a broader tariff overhaul on April 2, when the US imposed universal duties on imports from nearly 60 countries in a bid to reduce the American trade deficit and strengthen domestic production.
As part of that move, Indian exports were slapped with an additional 26% duty—covering sectors ranging from seafood to industrial metals like steel.
Source Name : Economic times