India wants trade deal with US, says Trump
India wants a trade deal with the United States despite the US administration’s tough stance on the issue, president Trump has said. The US president considers his country as a developing nation, wants it to grow faster than any other nation and thus wants to stop the subsidies to growing economies like India and China.
Trump often accuses India of imposing 100 per cent tariffs on American products.
"Frankly, I'll tell you, India called us the other day. They said they would like to start doing a trade deal, first time," Trump said without mentioning who called up whom.
"They wouldn't talk about it with previous administrations. They were very happy with the way it was," Trump told his supporters on Friday at a Joint Fundraising Committee Reception, in Sioux Falls in South Dakota.
Trump said the United States and Japan have also started discussions over trade.
Trump said that he has become friends with foreign leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"Practically, every time a foreign leader comes in to see me, whether it's Abe of Japan, whether it's Modi of India, I've become friends with all of them," he said.
"You know, some of them are tough relationships because they've really been taken advantage of our country for many, many decades. But I'm friendly. They respect me. I respect them. They're respecting our country again," he said.
If countries like India and China can grow at a fast pace, why not the US? he asked.
"They can be at 11 per cent and we're at 1 per cent, and they're saying, oh, that's great. No, no, we have more potential than any other country," Trump said.
Meanwhile, a senior White House official on Monday said negotiations for better trade deals between the US and India that meet the needs of both the countries are at the beginning stages.
"I know that a number of administration officials just recently came back from India. They expressed their willingness to negotiate new and better trade deals, and those conversations are at the beginning stages," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Maiden 2+2 dialogue between India and the United States were held last week in New Delhi.
According to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Alice Well, trade related issues were discussed during the dialogue.
