Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "good friend" once again, President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States (US) and India are expected to finalise the trade deal between them "soon". His remarks come a day after a US delegation concluded its four-day India visit aimed at finalising the interim agreement.
Though Trump - who was speaking to reporters in his regular press briefings at the Oval Office of the White House - claimed that New Delhi has taken "advantage" of Washington's policies, charging "tremendous tariffs". But the exact reverse is happening now and the US is "making a lot of money" with India, he said.
"They charged tremendous amounts of tariffs to our companies, and we didn't charge them anything. Now, it is exact reverse and we are making a lot of money with India," he said while responding to a query on trade deal negotiations between the two countries. "We will get to a deal because I like your prime minister a lot. He is a good friend of mine. We get along great, and we are gonna make a deal."
PM Modi and Trump had held a telephonic conversation on February 7 following which India and the US finalised the framework for the first phase of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). It proposed that US removed the 25 per cent tariffs on India for procuring Russian oil and reduced the remaining levies to 18 per cent from 25 per cent.
But this changed on February 20 after the Supreme Court of the US issued a ruling against Trump's reciprocal tariffs. Following this the American leader imposed 10 per cent tariffs on all counties from February 24 for 150 days.
But after the Supreme Court ruling, India and the US have re-negotiated the pact. As part of it, an Indian delegation led by Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, visited the US in April for discussions. Then from June 1 to 4, a US delegation led by Brendan Lynch was in India to carry forward the negotiations.
According to India, the trade deal is nearly finalised, and discussions are being held on small issues, which Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has described as "commas and full stops".
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