New Delhi, May 15: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that India has offered to enter a bilateral trade deal with the US that “basically” proposes that “no tariffs” would be levied on a range of American goods.
“They are offering us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariffs,” Trump said during a meeting with business executives in Qatar’s capital Doha where he is on a state visit.
However, Trump did not offer any further details. The US President also said that he told Apple CEO Tim Cook to give up his plan of setting up more manufacturing facilities in India and focus on building these plants in the US instead. “Apple will be upping its production in the United States,” Trump added.
As part of ongoing discussions on the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, representatives of India’s Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative held fruitful discussions, at a meeting in Washington, from April 23-25, to conclude the first tranche of the Bilateral Trade Agreement by the fall (September-October) of 2025.
This followed earlier bilateral discussions held in March, 2025 in New Delhi. “During the meetings in Washington, D.C., the team had fruitful discussions on wide ranging subjects covering tariff and non-tariff matters. The team discussed the pathway for concluding the first tranche of the mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement by Fall of 2025, including through opportunities for early mutual wins,” the Commerce Ministry had said, While productive sectoral expert level engagements have taken place through the virtual format, in-person sectoral engagements are planned from end May, the statement said.
The productive discussions are part of bilateral efforts in line with ‘Leaders’ Statement of February 2025’ to enhance and expand India-US economic ties and supply chain integration through the Bilateral Trade Agreement, it added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Washington in February this year, held talks with Trump on negotiating the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement by the fall of 2025.
The two leaders resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation. To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade — “Mission 500” — aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
IANS