President Donald Trump has suggested that India has offered to drop tariffs on US goods to zero, something not immediately acknowledged by New Delhi.
Trump made the comments during a business roundtable in Doha, Qatar, on his Mideast tour, first discussing Apple’s plans to build manufacturing plants for its iPhone in India.
“It’s very hard to sell into India and and they’ve offered us a deal where basically they’re willing to literally charge us no tariff,” Trump said.
India is a close partner of the US and is part of the Quad, which is made up of the US, India, Japan and Australia, and is seen as a counterbalance to China’s expansion in the region.
According to Bloomberg, Trump also talked about a conversation he had with Apple CEO Tim Cook, telling him not to expand production in India. The tech giant has already been ramping up production in the South Asian country, where $22 billion (€19.6bn) worth of iPhones were made in the 12 months to the end of March. This is nearly 60% more than in the previous 12-month period, as Apple is pushing ahead with efforts to diversify away from China.
India's commerce ministry didn't immediately comment on the US President's words concerning the tariffs. However, on Monday, the country threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US following Trump's higher duties on steel and aluminium.
New Delhi notified the World Trade Organization on 12 May that they were considering countermeasures, notably "an increase in tariffs on selected products originating in the United States".
This marked India's first retaliatory action since the US President announced the first details of his tariff policy this year. The two nations are continuing their trade talks.
