Amir participates in Gulf-US summit
The summit was attended by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Their Excellencies the members of the official delegation accompanying His Highness the Amir.
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Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
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White House trade adviser Peter Navarro says India's purchases of Russian crude oil are funding Moscow's war in Ukraine and have to stop, as Washington ramps up pressure on New Delhi to cut off its energy imports from Russia. 'India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,' Navarro wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times on Monday. He added that India's dependence on Russian crude is 'opportunistic and deeply corrosive of the world's efforts to isolate Putin's war economy'. In the beginning of this month, United States President Donald Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods over the issue, straining US-India ties. In a speech on the occasion of India's Independence Day on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a defiant note, pledging to protect his country's farmers in the face of high tariffs slapped by the Trump administration. 'Modi will stand like a wall against any policy that threatens their interests. India will never compromise when it comes to protecting the interests of our farmers,' he said. India-Russia ties India counts Russia among its closest defence partners, with the bulk of its weapons, including the S-400 missile defence system, sourced from Moscow. India has continued to maintain good ties with Russia, with Modi meeting Putin in Moscow amid the Ukraine war. But New Delhi has been cultivating ties with Washington in the past decades, raising their relations to a strategic level. The two countries have annual bilateral trade of $128bn, but Trump has been pushing to lower the $45bn deficit in India's favour. The US also saw India as a bulwark against rising China, but the recent actions by the Trump administration seem to have pushed India to mend ties with its rival, China. Indian Prime Minister Modi is set to travel to China at the end of the month, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is arriving in India on Monday on a two-day trip, for talks on the disputed border between the two countries. In the opinion piece on Monday, the White House adviser pointed out that India is 'cozying up' to Russia and China. 'If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one,' Navarro wrote. The adviser also said it was risky to transfer cutting-edge US military capabilities to India as New Delhi's ties to China and Russia deepen. 'Unfairly singled out' India's Foreign Ministry has said the country is being 'unfairly' singled out for buying Russian oil while the US and European Union continue to buy goods from Russia. The EU and US trade much more with Russia than India does – New Delhi's contention for being singled out – although this trade has dipped significantly since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. According to the EU, its total trade with Russia was worth 67.5 billion euros ($77.9bn) in 2024, a fall from 257.5 billion euros ($297.4bn) in 2021. The bloc also continues to buy Russian gas – $105.6bn for gas imports since the war began – an amount equivalent to 75 percent of Russia's 2024 military budget, according to the Finnish think tank the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Total Russia-US trade in 2024, meanwhile, stood at $5.2bn, according to the US Trade Representative's office – though significantly down from 2021, when it stood at $36bn. India and the US have also been haggling for months to agree on a free trade agreement, with Trump accusing New Delhi of denying access to US goods by imposing high tariffs. Meanwhile, a planned visit by US trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25 to 29 has been called off, a source told the Reuters news agency, delaying talks on a proposed trade agreement meant to be a relief from additional US tariffs on Indian goods.
Qatar Tribune
12 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Trump administration unveils stricter subsidy rules for wind, solar projects
Agencies The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday unveiled stricter rules for how solar and wind projects can qualify for federal tax subsidies that President Donald Trump's new tax and spending law is phasing out over the next two years. The revisions change longstanding definitions for what it means for a project to be considered under construction by requiring developers of big solar arrays and wind farms to complete physical work rather than simply show that they have invested changes are in response to an executive order Trump issued last month directing the Treasury Department to restrict tax credit eligibility unless a substantial portion of a facility is built. Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly sought to stall development of wind and solar energy, calling them unreliable, expensive, and overly dependent on Chinese supply chains. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law last month, requires projects to begin construction by July of next year or enter service by the end of 2027 to qualify for a 30% tax credit and bonuses that can push the subsidy even higher. Under the new rules, which will affect projects that start construction as of September 2, utility-scale projects will be required to show substantial and continuous physical work to be eligible for the credits. They will still have four years to claim the subsidies. For the last decade, project developers had also been able to 'safe harbor' projects for four years by incurring 5% of total costs before a credit expired or stepped down to a lesser value. According to an agency document, 'substantial' work does not include permitting, design or holding components in inventory. Small projects of under 1.5 megawatts will still be able to use the 5% 'safe harbor' provision, Treasury said, a positive for the residential solar industry.
Qatar Tribune
12 hours ago
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US-India trade talks collapse as negotiators cancel New Delhi visit
Agencies A planned visit by US trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25-29 has been called off, a source said, delaying talks on a proposed trade agreement and dashing hopes of relief from additional US tariffs on Indian goods from August 27. The current round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement is now likely to be deferred to another date that has yet to be decided, the source with direct knowledge of the matter said. The US embassy in New Delhi said it has no additional information on the trade and tariff talks, which are being handled by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). India's trade ministry did not immediately reply to a Reuters email seeking comments. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi's continued imports of Russian oil in a move that sharply escalated tensions between the two nations. 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The US embassy in New Delhi said it has no additional information on the trade and tariff talks, which are being handled by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). India's trade ministry did not immediately reply to a Reuters email seeking comments. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi's continued imports of Russian oil in a move that sharply escalated tensions between the two nations. The new import tax, which will come into effect from August 27, will raise duties on some Indian exports to as high as 50 percent - among the highest levied on any US trading partner. Trade talks between New Delhi and Washington collapsed after five rounds of negotiations over disagreement on opening India's vast farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases. India's Foreign Ministry has said the country is being unfairly singled out for buying Russian oil while the United States and European Union continue to purchase goods from Russia. The Indian government has decided to slash the consumption tax it charges consumers and businesses by October, a top official said, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced sweeping tax reforms to boost the economy in the face of a trade conflict with Washington. The federal government will propose a two-rate structure of 5 percent and 18 percent, doing away with the 12 percent and 28 percent tax that was imposed on some items, said the government official, who declined to be named as the plans are still private. The plan is to bring '99 percent' of all the items that are in 12 percent category to 5 percent, the official said. That tax slab includes butter, fruit juices, and dry fruits, and any cuts to the basket could benefit the likes of Nestle to Hindustan Unilever to Procter & Gamble. The tax cut plan comes amid growing tensions between New Delhi and Washington on steep US tariffs on Indian goods. Modi on Friday made a public appeal to promote domestic products, and his supporters have been calling for boycott of American products. Addressing the nation on its 79th independence day, Modi earlier said that the goods and services tax would be reformed and taxes lowered by Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, set to be celebrated in October this year. 'This Diwali, I am going to make it a double Diwali for you. Over the past eight years, we have undertaken a major reform in goods and services tax. We are bringing next-generation GST reforms that will reduce the tax burden across the country,' Modi said. The final decision will be taken by the GST (goods and services taxes) Council, which is chaired by the finance minister and has all the state's finance ministers as members, the official said. The council is set to meet by October. Citi estimates that about 20 percent of items - including packaged food and beverages, apparel and hotel accommodation - fall under the 12 percent GST slab, accounting for 5-10 percent of consumption and 5-6 percent of GST revenue. If most of these are moved to the 5 percent slab and some to the 18 percent slab, it could lead to a revenue loss of around 500 billion rupees, or 0.15 percent of GDP, potentially taking the total policy stimulus for households in the current 2025-26 financial year to 0.6 percent-0.7 percent of GDP, the brokerage said.
