US President Donald Trump on Thursday claimed that India had offered the US a nearly no-tariff deal on a reciprocal basis. “They have offered us a deal where we’re basically they’re willing to literally charge us no tariff,” President Trump said while addressing a news conference in Doha.
He also mentioned that he encouraged Apple CEO Tim Cook to raise production in the US rather than expanding manufacturing in India. “I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion, but now I hear you are building all over India. I don’t want you building in India. You can build in India, if you want to take care of India because India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world, so it is very hard to sell in India,” Trump said.
Earlier, it was reported that Apple is set to transition all production of iPhones destined for the US market to India. Apple’s decision to ramp up its production in India aligns with its broader goal of diversifying manufacturing operations away from China.
Meanwhile, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s is going to US on May 16 to commence advance trade talks, which are going on for some time at official level.
This visit comes post, US Vice President JD Vance’s trip to New Delhi in April in an effort to secure a bilateral trade deal with US. On May 12, US President Donald Trump claimed that his administration helped broker an immediate ceasefire between India and Pakistan and told them that US wants to increase trade with both.
“I’m very proud to let you know that the leadership of India and Pakistan was unwavering and powerful… And we helped a lot, and we also helped with trade. I said, ‘Come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let’s stop it, let’s stop it. If you stop it, we’re doing trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade,'” Trump stated, highlighting his administration’s use of trade leverage to encourage peace.
India has however denied Trade being part of talks with the US. The MEA said, “From the time Op Sindoor commenced on May 7, till the understanding on cessation of firing and military action on May 10, there were conversations between Indian and U.S. leaders on the evolving military situation. The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions,”
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