United States President Donald Trump has said that India is ready to remove all tariffs on goods from America, but signaled he is not ready to enter into a trade deal with the country. India is a key buyer of the United States’ products, purchasing farm and tech goods from the country.
In an interview with Fox News host Bret Baier that aired Friday, Trump talked about trade relations with India about improving U.S. exports. “They make it almost impossible to do business,” the president told Baier. “Do you know that they’re willing to cut 100 percent of their tariffs for the United States?”
While making that claim, Trump offered mixed signals on how quickly a trade deal might follow. “That’ll come soon. I’m in no rush,” he said. “Look, everybody wants to make a deal with us.” He later added that he does not plan to “make deals with everybody.”
Trump wants to prioritize discussions with certain countries
The comments hint that the WHite House will continue to maintain tariffs on some countries until a pause on higher tariffs in July. Trump added that the US will make decisions about unilateral tariffs for some countries. Earlier on Friday, the president told reporters that he expects to announce fresh rates for trade partners in the next two or three weeks.
Officials say the administration wants to wrap up talks with several countries, including India, but limited staff and time mean Washington cannot hold full talks with every capital affected by the president’s reciprocal tariff plan.
Trump also raised the idea of bigger trade ties with Pakistan, India’s rival. He previously said that trade was one major factor that helped broker a ceasefire deal between the two nuclear neighbors this month. “I’m using trade to settle scores and make peace,” he said.
The United States has also worked to cool its clash with China, with the country cutting its tariff rate on the Asian country after their last meeting. Presently, tariffs on Chinese goods are now around 30%, as opposed to the earlier 145%. Meanwhile, Beijing lowered its tariffs on U.S. imports to 10%. “If I didn’t do that deal with China, I think China would have broken apart,” Trump said.