Trump Indicates Tariff Reductions May Lead to US-India Trade Agreement
'This is going to be a very new type of opportunity—one where we can walk in and compete on a level playing field. Right now, India has not opened up its market, but I think they will...They have not done that, but we will see. If they do that, we will probably make a deal with substantially lower tariffs,' Donald Trump was quoted as saying.
India and the US have been negotiating over a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) before the crucial July 9 deadline of the 90-day pause on India-US tariffs escalations.
At the same time, India has hardened its stand on the agricultural sector as the high-stakes trade negotiations with the United States approached a make or break stage, government sources said on Monday.
The Indian team led by Chief Negotiator Rajesh Agrawal had extended its stay in Washington. Two days of Trump on US-India Trade Talks were scheduled on Thursday and Friday but the two countries have decided to extend the dialogue as both sides were trying to rush through an interim trade agreement before the crucial July 9 deadline, a day ahead of the World Trade Organization's MC12 meeting, reported ANI.
The decision to extend the US-India trade talks came as both India and the US are staring at the possibility of the resumption of 26% reciprocal tariffs on trade following expiry of the three-month window period. As part of a tit-for-tat tariff war, these punitive tariffs were announced on each other's imports during the Trump administration on April 2. The tariffs were put on hold for 90 days but will snap back into place if both countries fail to find a deal by July 9.
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Hindustan Times
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The Wire
37 minutes ago
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There wasn't much that President Trump's advisers could do to lift his dark mood in the winter of 2021, as he prepared to leave Washington after losing his re-election bid. But during a Jan. 5 meeting at the White House with cabinet secretaries and senior aides, Trump was offered a glimmer of hope: America was set to celebrate its 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026. 'You could come back for that," a meeting attendee remarked, according to a person in the room. Trump brightened at the idea of retaking the White House in 2024 so he could oversee the yearlong birthday celebration. More than four years later, Trump is back—and he is determined to put his imprint on the celebration, known as the Semiquincentennial. The federal government has been quietly planning for the event since 2016, when President Barack Obama signed legislation that established a bipartisan commission appointed by congressional leadership to organize the official commemoration. But years of dysfunction on the commission have provided the president and his advisers an opening to step in to give the celebration a distinctly Trumpian touch. Trump will be front and center for major events. He added a White House task force—chaired by him—to direct more of the planning, and is bringing to life 2024 campaign promises such as a National Garden of American Heroes. That is set to feature 250 life-size statues of figures including Ronald Reagan, Milton Friedman, Jackie Robinson and Whitney Houston—all approved by Trump. The president's allies have also been installed as the executive director of the commission and in key roles at the foundation created to support the commission's work. And the White House is partnering with conservative institutions, historians and influencers on 250th anniversary programming. The events are expected to adhere to the administration's wider efforts to portray American history and culture in a positive light only. So far, the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is made up of eight lawmakers and 16 private citizens appointed in equal numbers by the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, along with other advisers including cabinet secretaries, isn't objecting. But it is facing accusations that it is bowing to Trump and his allies as it recovers from years of behind-the-scenes drama. The commission and its affiliated foundation have been mired in allegations of mismanagement and cronyism, and beset by a now settled sex discrimination lawsuit filed by female executives, a revolving door of top officials and an atmosphere so poisonous that the former chairman and executive director sued several of their fellow commissioners for defamation. Trump is planning to exert influence over some of the biggest coming events in the world, including the FIFA World Cup, which will take place across North America next year, and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. He has also taken unprecedented measures to shape traditionally nonpartisan organizations including the Kennedy Center and the National Archives. But nothing has captured his imagination quite like the country's 250th anniversary. 'We're gonna have a big, big celebration, as you know—250 years. In some ways, I'm glad I missed that second term because I wouldn't be your president for that. Can you imagine?" Trump said earlier this year. 'Amazing the way things work out." On Thursday, Trump will deliver a speech at the Iowa State Fair billed as the official kickoff to the 250th celebrations—America250 announced it as beginning 'A New Era of American Greatness." The president is expected to preview coming events in a rally-style speech, including his plan to create a yearlong 'Great American State Fair" with showcases from all 50 states, according to administration officials. He is also expected to discuss his accomplishments thus far in the second term. 'Folks that are my age remember the 1976 Bicentennial," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, 68 years old, said in an interview. The National Park Service, a bureau within Interior, is hosting many of the 250th anniversary events. 'And I think President Trump, he's also competitive. This is going to be bigger than any celebration we've ever had before." Events are planned nationwide throughout the year, by both the federal and state governments, including student programs, re-enactments, a tech expo and a Tall Ships flotilla in New York Harbor, similar to the one that took place in 1976. On July 4 next year, the National Mall will host a celebration with performers and fireworks. Other events are still in planning stages. Critics say the Trump administration and Trump's allies working at the commission's foundation are promoting a partisan vision soaked with MAGA ideology and have hijacked the anniversary for political purposes. 'America's 250th anniversary should reflect the voices and experiences of all Americans. It does not belong to the president of the United States, and was never intended to serve his greed or ambition," said Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D., N.J.), who sits on the official commission. The commemoration should tell 'the full story of our country while continuing our work toward a more perfect union," she said. Trump's allies working on the planning say they are trying to make the events reflective of the entire country. 'There are a handful of bitter, bitchy Democrat commissioners who still can't come to grips with the fact that Donald Trump was elected president of the United States and by virtue of that leads the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the great country," said Chris LaCivita, the co-manager of Trump's 2024 campaign who is now a special adviser on the plans. 'If they don't like it, they can go do something else." 'President Trump is delivering on his campaign promise to give America's 250th anniversary the grand celebration it deserves, including a full year of events designed to honor important moments in our nation's history," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. 'Beginning in Iowa, this unifying, patriotic celebration will bring together families of all backgrounds to reflect on the accomplishments of those who helped make America the greatest country in the world." Beginning with an anniversary dinner in 1826, every 50 years the government has sponsored a commemoration of American independence. While conceived as an opportunity to reflect on the past and contemplate the future in light of the nation's founding principles, political messaging has often lurked in the background. An illustration of the nation's Centennial celebration in 1876 in Philadelphia. President Lyndon B. Johnson quoted soaring language from the Declaration of Independence upon signing legislation to establish the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission on July 4, 1966. 'Today, the Vietnamese people are fighting for their freedom in South Vietnam. We are carrying forward our great heritage by helping to sustain their efforts," Johnson added. Two years later, Richard Nixon rode a conservative backlash into the presidency. At White House meetings, Nixon envisioned 'enlisting our New American Majority as the focal point for the Bicentennial," top aide H.R. Haldeman recalled in his diaries. To minimize his own political risks, Nixon tried to foist the project on a reluctant Vice President Spiro Agnew: 'He was scared of the Bicentennial, because he thinks that it could be disastrous, you can't satisfy people, and it would lead only to trouble," Haldeman wrote. Agnew got that right. The Bicentennial Commission foundered amid allegations of political favoritism, commercialism and mismanagement, and the sanitized version of American history it sought to promote was widely derided. The Congressional Black Caucus complained that the project was devoted to 'big corporate profits and the re-election of Richard Nixon," while New Left activists set up a People's Bicentennial Commission to provide 'revolutionary alternatives" to the official story. Congress dissolved the commission in 1973, and Nixon tapped former Navy Secretary John Warner to slap together a scaled down commemoration in the remaining time. After Nixon resigned in 1974, White House aide David Gergen pushed the new president, Gerald Ford, to deliver 'a blockbuster" Bicentennial speech promising 'to free us once more from the shackles of burdensome government…by wiping out something like the FEA," referring to the Federal Energy Administration, a short-lived agency that regulated oil prices during the 1970s energy crisis, according to a memo in the Ford Presidential Library. Ford ultimately stuck to more anodyne remarks when more than a dozen Tall Ships from around the world sailed in a parade into New York Harbor. A replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia at the 1926 Sesquicentennial. In 2008, with the 250th anniversary still a faint glimmer in the future, Philadelphia investment executive Andrew Hohns founded USA 250 to promote a commemoration that would leave a tangible legacy in his native city, like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which the Centennial and the 1926 Sesquicentennial spurred. Hohns worked with Senate staff to draft the Semiquincentennial legislation. Hohns was appointed to the commission by then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, but he was soon sidelined by Dan DiLella, a Pennsylvania real-estate developer appointed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and named chairman by Trump in his first term. The commission's early years were dominated by fighting between DiLella and his allies and a minority led by Hohns, who accused DiLella of steering contracts to his friends and business associates, hiring an unqualified associate to serve as executive director and stacking the affiliated America250 foundation with patronage employees. DiLella denied those allegations and has said Hohns was bitter his ideas were rejected. Hohns, who has since resigned from the commission, said he came on board with a 'turn-key plan" inspired by the 1876 Centennial that would have delivered 'major investments in legacy, infrastructure and preservation." Instead, he said, the commission squandered the opportunity and has accomplished little. DiLella, who remains on the commission, didn't respond to an email requesting comment. Ships in New York Harbor during the Bicentennial. In a series of articles, The Wall Street Journal reported on mismanagement and questionable decisions at America250, including a secret deal to turn over Semiquincentennial programming and access to national monuments to Facebook parent Meta in exchange for $10 million, and professional staff complaints that the project was floundering with no focus or public input. Insiders ridiculed some of the project's plans, such as trying to popularize the slogan, 'This Is Our Semiquin," which was stitched on commemorative ball caps. America250 settled the sex discrimination lawsuit, which alleged that the organization was run like a 'Boys' Club" where women faced a hostile workplace, unequal pay and retaliation. America250 denied the allegations. The women who filed suit were required to sign nondisclosure agreements regarding the case, a person familiar with the matter said. President Joe Biden replaced DiLella as chairman with Rosie Rios, who served as U.S. Treasurer in the Obama administration and was appointed to the commission by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. DiLella then sued Hohns and other dissident commissioners for defamation, alleging that their public comments had cost him his position. A federal judge dismissed the suit after the Justice Department stepped in to defend the dissidents. DiLella's appeal is pending. Although some commissioners considered Rios a heavy-handed leader who did little to increase the project's transparency or accountability, she brought a higher profile to the organization. But she struggled to win attention from the Biden White House, and America250 had few achievements to note by 2024 beyond passage of legislation to mint commemorative coins and the adoption of a new logo. Events were modest, such as a 2023 project inviting Americans to mail in loose-leaf tea that could be thrown into Boston Harbor during a Boston Tea Party re-enactment. An America250 event at the Library of Congress in 2021. Rios saw Trump's election as an opportunity to reset the project for the homestretch. After November's election, she sent Trump and first lady Melania Trump a memo with recommendations for making America250 a signature project for the new administration, according to the organization's annual report. 'I am very supportive of President Trump's participation in our 250th celebrations, as I would be for any president who has the same level of commitment that he has," Rios said in an interview, adding the commission had a mandate to be bipartisan. 'We've always intended to make space at the table for whoever was going to win the November election." Rios sits on the board of Ripple Labs, a crypto company that made the second-largest donation to Trump's inaugural celebration, $4.9 million. Rios said there wasn't a connection to the commission's work. Recognizing there needed to be Trump-affiliated advisers working with America250, Rios asked LaCivita to join as a special adviser, and a wave of Trump allies came aboard. Trump announced Justin Caporale, who orchestrated Trump's 2024 rallies, would work on production for America250 events. Caporale's production company, Event Strategies, was a contractor for the recent U.S. Army parade in Washington. Event Strategies was also listed on paperwork for the Stop the Steal rally ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Ari Abergel, a 25-year-old former Fox News producer who briefly served as a spokesperson for first lady Melania Trump, was tapped by the president to be executive director of the commission. Abergel brought on Trump's campaign fundraiser Meredith O'Rourke to assist with donor outreach and Monica Crowley, a former Fox News contributor who is now U.S. chief of protocol, to simultaneously be a spokeswoman. The website that runs RSVPs for the coming kickoff to America250 activities at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Campaign Nucleus, was founded by former Trump campaign director Brad Parscale. Officials at the Library of Congress event. Rios said she approached the Trump administration to have them nominate an executive director and bring in expertise from all sides. Abergel has faced criticism from people involved with America250 planning that he is too inexperienced to be executive director and that he answers solely to Trump instead of the commission, according to people familiar with the matter. At a closed-door meeting Tuesday, commission leaders said they were unhappy with unilateral changes Abergel had made to programming the commission had already approved, an America250 official said, adding the agency is working to get the programming back on track as approved by the commission. 'President Trump is the King of Patriotism. And when it comes to celebrating America, nobody goes bigger," said Abergel in a statement. 'A few disgruntled individuals won't stop us from making America250 the most patriotic celebration in American history." While Rios has been enthusiastic about the Trump administration's support for the celebrations and has been praised by Trump's advisers for her collaboration, some of Trump's allies have viewed the commission and Rios, a Democrat, with suspicion. Sen. Mike Lee, (R., Utah), accused America250 last year of 'serving as a taxpayer-funded vehicle to advance and promote radical ideologies" such as supporting Pride month and employing a DEI official, and wrote in a letter to Rios that he has 'grave reservations about the Commission's capacity" to host a successful event. At the White House, Trump created a separate group called Task Force 250, chaired by Trump and made up of cabinet officials and senior aides. An executive order signed by Trump his first week in office established the group, called for building the garden with statues of national heroes and directed the task force to coordinate federal government agencies' plans for the yearlong celebration. Efforts in the West Wing are being spearheaded by Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley and policy adviser Brittany Baldwin, and each agency has a Task Force 250 leader. White House officials meet virtually with state leaders each month to discuss planning. Trump's cabinet—in particular Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Burgum—are also involved in the planning of Task Force 250 events. The White House and America250 coordinated on the Army 250th Parade in Washington last month, where Trump donors were offered VIP packages for the parade and coming events. Spectators at the Army parade on June 14. 'The president's vision of having the greatest birthday celebration in American history will not be compromised or impeded by any corner," the official said. 'Right now, there's no impediment for getting things done at the moment, and hopefully there won't be." The White House has been working on plans to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Other ideas under consideration include a 1776 Presidential Award for students showing knowledge of history, a Patriot Games sports competition for student athletes and a 'Freedom Plane" similar to the 'Freedom Train" that crossed the nation with historical documents and memorabilia in celebration of America's Bicentennial. Administration officials are also considering organizing a ball drop in Times Square and said it would mark the first time a ball would drop in the famous New York tourist destination not on New Year's Eve. The White House is partnering with private organizations to create some of the materials and programming for the events, including PragerU, a conservative nonprofit that describes its mission as promoting 'liberty, limited government and Judeo-Christian principles" through short videos, telling a story of achievement from 'Moses to Trump," as co-founder Allen Estrin put it. The White House also worked with Larry Arnn, the president of Hillsdale College, a private, Christian, conservative liberal-arts college, and Wilfred McClay, a historian there, to produce a video lecture series called 'The Story of America" that appears on the White House website. Arnn has been critical of progressive influence on the media, other universities and corporate America. The administration has also discussed partnering with conservative influencers and commentators on programming. 'President Trump understands the world is watching," Burgum said. 'People are like, oh, democracy is fragile. No, democracy is quite resilient, and the democracy of the United States has stood the test of time and is now here. We are not in decline, we are in ascendance." Write to Meridith McGraw at and Jess Bravin at
