President Donald Trump is meeting Thursday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has heaped praise on him and is hoping to avoid tariffs that the new administration has slapped on other countries in its opening weeks.
Modi is a nationalist and has talked up his warm relationship with Trump during his first term while cheering his winning back the White House. The Indian leader is looking to improve relations with Washington and the West overall, which have been frosty lately after Modi refused to condemn Russia for its war on Ukraine.
The trip comes after Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party’s victory during a high-stakes state legislature election last weekend in India’s federal territory, including New Delhi. The prime minister said before leaving for Washington that the visit was a chance to “deepen our partnership” in key areas such as technology, trade, defense and energy.
The White House visit isn’t likely to be all smiles, though.
Trump, a Republican, has already imposed tariffs on China and says more are coming against the European Union, while threatening similar against Canada and Mexico and expanding tariffs on steel and aluminum he initially imposed during his first term. He said Thursday he was announcing increases on U.S. tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, declaring on his social media site, “TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS!!!”
Trump has repeatedly dubbed India a “tariff king.” In response, New Delhi has shown a willingness to buy more American oil while lowering its own tariffs on U.S. goods, including on some Harley-Davidson motorcycles, from 50% to 40%.
Also, India in 2023 dropped retaliatory tariffs on U.S. almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts.
Then there’s a recent deal allowing U.S.-based General Electric to partner with India-based Hindustan Aeronautics to produce jet engines for Indian aircraft in India, and the sale of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones.
Still, Trump has decried U.S. trade deficits around the world and said he’ll work to shrink them, including during his meetings at the White House last week with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The U.S. is India’s largest trade partner, but the two countries have a trade deficit of $50 billion in India’s favor.
The Indo-U.S. goods and services trade totaled around $190.1 billion in 2023. According to India’s External Affairs Ministry, the U.S. exports to India were worth nearly $70 billion and imports $120 billion.
A Trump administration official, previewing the meeting on a phone call with reporters on Thursday, said that India has made modest positive steps on trade. The official, who insisted on anonymity as a term of the call, said there is a goal of finalizing by the end of this year a bilateral trade arrangement with India that the United States would judge as fair to both sides.
Modi began his day meeting with national security adviser Mike Waltz and was set to hold separate meetings with billionaire SpaceX founder and Trump administration official Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s preparing to run to be Ohio’s next governor.
Modi and Trump were also set to discuss immigration, and Modi can point to India’s having accepted the return of 104 migrants brought back on a U.S. military plane — the first such flight to the country as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border.
For the Trump administration, meanwhile, India is seen as integral to the U.S. strategy of containing China in the Indo-Pacific. Modi’s country is hosting a summit of a group of countries known as the Quad — made up of the U.S., India, Japan and Australia — later this year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is meeting Thursday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has heaped praise on him and is hoping to avoid tariffs that the new administration has slapped on other countries in its opening weeks.
Modi is a nationalist and has talked up his warm relationship with Trump during his first term while cheering his winning back the White House. The Indian leader is looking to improve relations with Washington and the West overall, which have been frosty lately after Modi refused to condemn Russia for its war on Ukraine.
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The trip comes after Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party’s victory during a high-stakes state legislature election last weekend in India’s federal territory, including New Delhi. The prime minister said before leaving for Washington that the visit was a chance to “deepen our partnership” in key areas such as technology, trade, defense and energy.
The White House visit isn’t likely to be all smiles, though.
Trump, a Republican, has already imposed tariffs on China and says more are coming against the European Union, while threatening similar against Canada and Mexico and expanding tariffs on steel and aluminum he initially imposed during his first term. He said Thursday he was announcing increases on U.S. tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, declaring on his social media site, “TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS!!!”
Trump has repeatedly dubbed India a “tariff king.” In response, New Delhi has shown a willingness to buy more American oil while lowering its own tariffs on U.S. goods, including on some Harley-Davidson motorcycles, from 50% to 40%.
Also, India in 2023 dropped retaliatory tariffs on U.S. almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts.
Then there’s a recent deal allowing U.S.-based General Electric to partner with India-based Hindustan Aeronautics to produce jet engines for Indian aircraft in India, and the sale of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones.
Still, Trump has decried U.S. trade deficits around the world and said he’ll work to shrink them, including during his meetings at the White House last week with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The U.S. is India’s largest trade partner, but the two countries have a trade deficit of $50 billion in India’s favor.
The Indo-U.S. goods and services trade totaled around $190.1 billion in 2023. According to India’s External Affairs Ministry, the U.S. exports to India were worth nearly $70 billion and imports $120 billion.
A Trump administration official, previewing the meeting on a phone call with reporters on Thursday, said that India has made modest positive steps on trade. The official, who insisted on anonymity as a term of the call, said there is a goal of finalizing by the end of this year a bilateral trade arrangement with India that the United States would judge as fair to both sides.
Modi began his day meeting with national security adviser Mike Waltz and was set to hold separate meetings with billionaire SpaceX founder and Trump administration official Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s preparing to run to be Ohio’s next governor.
Modi and Trump were also set to discuss immigration, and Modi can point to India’s having accepted the return of 104 migrants brought back on a U.S. military plane — the first such flight to the country as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border.
For the Trump administration, meanwhile, India is seen as integral to the U.S. strategy of containing China in the Indo-Pacific. Modi’s country is hosting a summit of a group of countries known as the Quad — made up of the U.S., India, Japan and Australia — later this year.
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