Not final, says EAM as Trump claims India offered zero tariffs

India on Thursday countered President Donald Trump’s remarks that New Delhi had offered the US a trade deal with zero tariffs, stating that bilateral trade negotiations between the two countries were still underway and any judgement at this point would be premature.

Goyal on US visit from May 17

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Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is visiting the US from May 17-20 for trade talks, aiming to finalise the trade deal before Trump’s 90-day tariff pause ends on July 9.

During an interaction with business leaders in Doha on Wednesday, Trump claimed, “It is very hard to see in India and they are offering us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariffs.” He also said he told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he did not want the company to invest in India.

Trump's remarks followed Apple's announcement last month that it was shifting most iPhone production from China to India.

The Indian government downplayed his comments regarding Apple. On the trade deal, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar clarified that bilateral talks were ongoing and nothing had been finalised yet.

“These are very complicated negotiations. These are very intricate. Nothing is decided till everything is,” Jaishankar said, disputing Trump’s claims. He said any trade deal must be mutually beneficial and work for both countries. “That would be our expectation from the trade deal, and until that is done, any judgement on it would be premature,” he added.

The Commerce Ministry, meanwhile, said negotiations on the bilateral trade deal were progressing well. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to visit the US for from May 17 to 20 for trade talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Sources said the discussions aimed to finalise a deal within the 90-day pause on tariff hikes announced by Trump, which ends on July 9.

The pause was declared on April 9 after Trump had earlier imposed tariffs of up to 27 per cent on Indian goods on April 2. The Indian delegation’s visit comes at a time when the US and China reached a trade agreement where the US reduced tariffs on Chinese goods from 145 per cent to 30 per cent, while China cut tariffs on some US products from 125 per cent to 10 per cent.

The US remains India’s top trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion. India maintains a trade surplus with the US.

On May 6, PM Narendra Modi announced the conclusion of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which will be formally signed when British PM Keir Starmer visits India later this year.