Trump hints at trade deal with India soon; says U.S. will have access to Indian market
Mr. Trump said the proposed deal could provide American companies greater access to the Indian market in line with the trade pact between the U.S. and Indonesia.
India and the U.S. have been holding negotiations for the trade pact primarily to keep the tariffs below 20%.
'We made a deal with Indonesia...We have full access into Indonesia,' the U.S. President told reporters.
The U.S. President said his administration is going to announce a few other trade deals and mentioned India in that context.
Under the trade deal, Indonesia is giving the U.S. access to the country, which we never had, Mr. Trump said.
'That's probably the biggest part of the deal...India is basically working along that same line. We are going to have access to India,' he said.
Washington has already sent letters to several countries sharing details of reciprocal tariff rates that would come into effect on August 1, 2025.
New Delhi hopes it will be able to strike a deal with the U.S. to avoid the reciprocal tariffs. At the same time, India has indicated that it will not enter into the trade deal in a hurry.
India does not enter into any trade agreement based on deadlines and will accept the proposed trade deal with the U.S. only when it is fully finalised, properly concluded and in the national interest, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said earlier this month.
An Indian Commerce Ministry team is in Washington for another round of talks on the proposed trade agreement.
India has hardened its position on the U.S. demand for duty concessions on agri and dairy products. New Delhi has, so far, not given any duty concessions to any of its trading partners in a free trade agreement in the dairy sector.
New Delhi is seeking the removal of this additional tariff (26%). It is also seeking the easing of tariffs on steel and aluminium (50%) and the auto (25%) sectors.
President Trump announced heavy tariffs on a number of countries, including India, on April 2. However, it was soon postponed for 90 days until July 9 and later to August 1.
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Hindustan Times
24 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
UNSC report links TRF to attack in Pahalgam
The United Nations Security Council has for the first time, named The Resistance Front, a front for Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba in a document, linking the group to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, a development that is being seen as a diplomatic win for India. Indian soldiers trek back after a search operation around Baisaran meadow, a day after an attack on tourists in Pahalgam, on April 23, 2025. (AFP) The biannual report from the Security Council's monitoring team for sanctions on al-Qaeda and Islamic State clearly linked TRF to the Pahalgam attack and warned that terrorist groups could exploit tensions between India and Pakistan. 'On 22 April, five terrorists attacked a tourist spot in Pahalgam, in Jammu and Kashmir. Twenty-six civilians were killed. The attack was claimed that same day by The Resistance Front (TRF), who in parallel published a photograph of the attack site,' the report said. 'The claim of responsibility was repeated the following day. On 26 April, however, TRF retracted its claim. There was no further communication from TRF, and no other group claimed responsibility. Regional relations remain fragile. There is a risk that terrorist groups may exploit these regional tensions,' it said. The report comes in the wake of a July 17 move by the US to designate TRF as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist, citing the Pahalgam terror attack. When the UN Security Council issued a press statement three days after the Pahalgam attack on April 22 that killed 26 civilians, Pakistan – currently a non-permanent member of the body – blocked any reference to TRF or even to Pahalgam. Pakistan's foreign minister Ishaq Dar subsequently said in Parliament that the country had removed any reference to TRF in the statement. Dar, however, changed his position after the US designation of TRF as a terrorist organization, and said Pakistan has no objections to this. The UNSC report stated, without naming specific countries, that one UN member state said the attack 'could not have happened without Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) support, and that there was a relationship between LeT and TRF', while another member state said the 'attack was carried out by TRF, which was synonymous with LeT'. People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that these two countries were India and the US. In an obvious reference to Pakistan, the UN Security Council report said: 'Yet one member state rejected these views and said that LeT was defunct.' Pakistan has for long taken the official position that LeT is 'defunct' since authorities imposed a ban on it. However, the group continues to be active in many cities and regions of Pakistan, raising funds and recruiting cadres while maintaining a low profile. The people cited above said the latest UN report is notable as all decisions of the 1267 Sanctions Committee, including monitoring team reports, are adopted by consensus by members of the Security Council. 'In other words, Pakistan was unable to prevent a reference to TRF in the report, as they had done in the case of the press statement in April,' a person said. The 1267 Sanctions Committee monitors sanctions on al-Qaeda, Islamic State and their affiliates. LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are included under the purview of the 1267 Sanctions Committee because of their links to al-Qaeda dating back to the 1990s. The people said it was also notable that Pakistan's close ally China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, had not stepped in to block any reference to TRF or LeT in the UN report. In the past, China intervened on behalf of Pakistan to block the listing of Pakistani terrorists at the UN Security Council using what is known as a 'technical hold' or request for more information. In the case of JeM chief Masood Azhar, China blocked his listing by the Security Council for almost a decade before lifting its hold in 2019. 'The inclusion of TRF in the UN report has punctured Pakistan's strategy of plausible deniability by using secular and modern names such as The Resistance Front and People Against Fascist Front for its jihadi proxies. This was done to divert attention from LeT and JeM and give an indigenous guise to its terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir,' a second person said. The LeT and Pakistan-based terror groups have found mention in the monitoring team's report after several years. Following the Pahalgam attack, a team of Indian officials travelled to the US in mid-May and briefed the monitoring team of the 1267 Sanctions Committee and other partner countries on the activities of TRF and presented a dossier on the group. The team also met representatives of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) as part of efforts to get TRF designated as a global terror group by the Security Council. India had also provided information about TRF's role and its links to LeT in half-yearly reports to the monitoring team in May and November 2024. Before this, the monitoring team was informed by the Indian side in December 2023 about the LeT and JeM operating in Jammu and Kashmir through groups such as TRF. On May 7, India carried out military strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack. 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Indian Express
24 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Trump hits India with 25% tariff plus a Russia penalty
Even as India and the US negotiate a trade agreement, President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods from August 1, with an additional but unspecified 'penalty' for its defence and energy imports from Russia. In a post on social media platform Truth Social, Trump said India has 'the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country'. India's Commerce and Industry Ministry said the government had taken note of Trump's statement and is 'studying its implications'. 'India and the US have been engaged in negotiations on concluding a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement over the last few months. We remain committed to that objective. The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs,' the ministry said in a statement. 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At 25 per cent, the tariff on India is just below the 26 per cent reciprocal rate Trump had announced in early April. However, it is higher than the levels agreed between the US and Asian countries such as Vietnam (20 per cent) and Indonesia (19 per cent). In his post on Truth Social, the US President also said that India would face a 'penalty' in addition to the 25 per cent tariff because of its imports of Russian energy items and defence equipment. The proposed 'penalty' for the import of Russian goods marks the first use of secondary tariffs by the US. 'Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST,' Trump said in his post. India's import of crude oil from Russia has surged in recent years, rising to 35-40 per cent of its total purchases from less than 1 per cent prior to the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, which sent global crude oil prices sharply higher. After China, India is the second-largest buyer of Russian crude oil. Historically, India's oil purchases have primarily been from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The size of the 'penalty' announced by Trump was not immediately known. According to Reuters, Kevin Hassett told reporters on Wednesday that Trump and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer 'will have more information 'shortly' on the additional penalty'. 'Massive trade deficit' In a second post on Truth Social minutes after he announced the 25 per cent tariff, Trump said the US has a 'MASSIVE TRADE DEFICIT WITH INDIA!!!' In 2024, the total goods trade between India and the US stood at $129.2 billion. While the US' exports to India in calendar year 2024 rose 3.4 per cent to $41.8 billion from 2023, its imports from India increased by 4.5 per cent to $87.4 billion, resulting in a goods trade deficit of $45.7 billion. The deficit was 5.4 per cent higher than in 2023. India's main exports to the US included drug formulations and biologicals, telecom instruments, precious and semi-precious stones, petroleum products, vehicle and auto components, gold and other precious metal jewellery, readymade cotton garments, and iron and steel products. Meanwhile, its main imports include crude oil, petroleum products, coal, cut and polished diamonds, electric machinery, and aircraft, among others. The US President has cited a deficit with its trade partners as a negative for the world's largest economy, calling for fairer trade relations. The Trump administration has hence aggressively pursued trade agreements with various countries, signing one with the European Union (EU) earlier this week. As part of the trade deal, imports from the EU into the US will face a tariff of 15 per cent and will see American goods get 'unprecedented levels of market access', according to the White House. Further, the EU will purchase $750 billion of US energy goods and invest $600 billion in the US by 2028. Siddharth Upasani is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. He reports primarily on data and the economy, looking for trends and changes in the former which paint a picture of the latter. Before The Indian Express, he worked at Moneycontrol and financial newswire Informist (previously called Cogencis). Outside of work, sports, fantasy football, and graphic novels keep him busy. ... Read More
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Rlys rationalises fares with minimal increase
Hyderabad: Union railway minister on Wednesday said the Indian Railways is providing affordable transportation service to over 720 crore passengers and that train fares are among the lowest in the world, even when compared with neighbouring countries. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The total amount of subsidy given in FY 2023-24 on passenger travel was provisionally estimated at 60,466 crore. "It amounts to a 45% subsidy on the cost of passenger travel. In other words, if the cost of providing the service is 100, then the price of the ticket is 55 only. This subsidy is continuing for all passengers. Further, concessions beyond this subsidy amount are continuing for many categories of persons with disabilities (Divyangjans), 11 categories of patients, and 8 categories of students," he said. "Fares were rationalised with effect from July 1, 2025, after a gap of over five years. The increase in fares is very low, ranging from half paisa per km to two paise per km for premium classes. There is no increase in general class up to 500 km and thereafter a half paisa increase in fare per passenger per kilometre. A half paisa increase in fare per passenger per kilometre in sleeper class ordinary and first-class ordinary," the minister said. "The fare revision is likely to have an insignificant impact on the total amount of subsidy because the revision ranges from half paise to two paise only per kilometre of travel. It is estimated that less than half the trips will have a marginal increase in fare. For example, for a low-income traveller in general coaches, there is no fare increase for 500 km travel," Vaishnaw said in reply to questions from 12 MPs of various parties, including Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi in the Lok Sabha. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The minister listed various schemes, infrastructure improvements, and other initiatives undertaken by the railway ministry to provide safe, comfortable, and quality services to passengers. In a post on 'X', Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said: "A group of hooligans dragged a war veteran to the police. Instead of arresting the hooligans, the police humiliated them and released them only after proving their citizenship. Police cannot detain people or demand citizenship proof without reasonable grounds. This paranoia about 'illegal immigrants' will only harass common people. Lack of documentation does not negate citizenship. Jai Jawan!" Owaisi was reacting to a Kargil War veteran's family in Chandannagar in Maharashtra alleging harassment by the Pune police and a group of unidentified individuals, who stormed their residence around 11.30pm on July 26, asking them to prove their Indian citizenship. Two other members in the family were veterans of the 1965 and 1971 wars.
