US Vice-President JD Vance on Thursday referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “tough negotiator” and informed that ‘good negotiations’ were in progress with India regarding the tariff matter.
JD Vance Negotiations to Prevent Retaliatory Tariffs
During a recent interview, JD Vance also forecasted that India might be one of the first nations to seal a trade agreement to prevent retaliatory tariffs imposed 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.
India Among First to Reach Trade Agreement says JD Vance
JD 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,” JD Vance replied.
Trump’s Tariffs and Their Impact
Trump announced broad reciprocal tariffs on a number of countries, including India and China, on April 2. But on April 9, he declared a 90-day halt in these tariffs until July 9 this year, except for the one on China and Hong Kong, since around 75 nations approached America to make trade agreements. But the 10 per cent tariff baseline on April 2 set on the countries still holds, apart from steel, aluminium, and auto part duties of 25 per cent.
Although India has allegedly compromised on several energy and defense expenditures to attract the US, Union Minister Piyush Goyal emphasized that India will not enter any agreement under pressure and will prioritize the interests of its own people.
India-US Trade Talks and Future Agreements
India and the United States agreed on a goal to double two-way trade to more than $500 billion by 2030 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington in February. The two sides have also committed to concluding the first tranche of an equally beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement by autumn 2025 to enhance bilateral trade in goods and services, expand market access, lower the tariff and non-tariff impediments, and enhance supply chain integration.
