US visit to ‘deepen ties’: PM as Trump warns of new tariffs on steel imports

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he looked forward to meeting his friend President Donald Trump during the visit to the US from February 12 to 14 and had warm recollections of working with him in his first presidential term.

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In a departure statement ahead of the two-nation visit to France and the US, commencing Monday, Modi framed his meeting with Trump as an opportunity to “build on past successes and further elevate and deepen ties”.

Excited to meet friend Trump

I look forward to meeting my friend, President Trump…I have a very warm recollection of working together in his first term. — Narendra Modi, PM

Modi Greeted by diaspora in Paris

• Modi touched down in Paris on Monday evening and was received by French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu at the airport
• He was greeted by jubilant Indian diaspora members, including a Sikh elderly who said to the PM, “You are honouring the memory of the Sahibzadas.

Modi’s remarks came hours after Trump announced plans for reciprocal tariffs on steel and aluminium imports and said he would unveil details later this week.

The plan, if it comes through, could hit Indian engineering goods exports hard with metal stocks plunging today after the Trump announcement.

India is the second-largest primary aluminium producer and exported 0.2 million tonnes of aluminium to the US last year. The US remains India’s top export market for the metal. Sources in the government back home said apart from an average 11 to 13 per cent import duty cuts across items, including luxury cars and bikes, announced in the Union Budget, additional duty cuts were being explored to power US exports to India and avert a potential trade war like the one the US had with China.

Modi, in his statement today, said the US visit would be an opportunity to build upon the successes of the Indo-US collaboration in President Trump’s first term and develop an agenda to further elevate and deepen the partnership, including in the areas of technology, trade, defence, energy and supply chain resilience.

“I look forward to meeting my friend, President Trump. Although this will be our first meeting following his historic electoral victory and inauguration in January, I have a very warm recollection of working together in his first term in building a comprehensive global strategic partnership between India and the US,” the PM said.

He said India and the US would work together for the mutual benefit of the peoples of our two countries and shape a better future for the world. In France, which he is visiting ahead of the US, the PM will co-chair the AI Action Summit, a gathering of world leaders and global tech CEOs, where views will be exchanged on collaborative approach to AI technology for innovation and larger public good in an inclusive, secure and trustworthy manner.

“The bilateral segment of my visit to France will provide an opportunity to review the progress on the 2047 Horizon Roadmap for India-France strategic partnership along with my friend President Macron,” the PM said.

Meanwhile, ahead of his bilateral meeting with Modi in France, President Emmanuel Macron has said the two countries have a “shared interest” focused on friendship. The PM and Macron will travel to Marseille to inaugurate the first Indian consulate in France and visit the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, in which India is a member of the consortium of partner countries. “I will also pay tributes to the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during World Wars at the Mazargues Cemetery,” the PM said amid possibilities of India and France collaborating in the civil nuclear energy sector.