US Vice-President JD Vance on Thursday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “tough negotiator” and said that ‘good negotiations’ were going on with India on the tariff issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Vice President JD Vance during delegation-level talks, in Delhi.(PTI)
In an interview with Fox News, Vance also predicted that India could be among the first countries to strike a trade deal to avert reciprocal tariffs set by US President Donald Trump last month.
“Modi, the Prime Minister, is a tough negotiator, but we’re going to rebalance that relationship, and that’s why the president’s doing what he’s doing,” Vance said during the interview.
Vance was asked if a deal with India would be the first to come through as negotiations go on to avoid the high import taxes. Most of the tariffs imposed by Trump in his ‘Liberation Day’ declaration are on pause right now.
“I don’t know if it’ll be your first deal, but I think it would be among the first deals for sure. We’ve got negotiations with Japan, with Korea, we’ve got negotiations going on with some folks in Europe, and obviously, we’ve got a good negotiation going on in India,” Vance replied.
Trump announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on a number of countries, including India and China, on April 2. However, on April 9, he announced a 90-day suspension of these tariffs until July 9 this year, except for those on China and Hong Kong, as about 75 countries approached America for trade deals.
However, the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed on the countries on April 2 remains in effect, besides the 25 per cent duties on steel, aluminium, and auto components.
While India has reportedly made several concessions on energy and defense spending to appeal to the US, Union Minister Piyush Goyal stressed that India will not be pressured into any deal, and that the country would prioritise the interests of its people.
India’s trade negotiations with the Donald Trump administration
India and the US set a target for more than doubling two-way trade to $500 billion by 2030 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in February.
The two sides have also agreed to finalise the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement by the fall of 2025 to deepen bilateral trade in goods and services, increase market access, reduce the tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration.