Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he spoke with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, noting that they reviewed progress in trade talks and agreed to maintain close communication in the coming weeks.
According to Indian commerce officials, another round of trade discussions is expected soon, either in India or the US.
Trump recently raised tariffs to 50 per cent on many Indian exports, affecting about USD 50 billion in trade. Labour-intensive industries, including textiles, gems, jewellery, and shrimp, are most impacted. The hike followed India’s continued imports of Russian oil.
Washington argued that India’s oil purchases supported Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, a claim New Delhi rejected as inconsistent, pointing to U.S. and European trade with Russia.
To counter tariff effects, Modi implemented tax cuts across products from cars to personal care items last month, marking India’s largest tax reform since 2017, while infrastructure spending remains high.
Roughly one-fifth of India’s exports in 2024 went to the U.S., and the new tariffs now cover nearly three-quarters of Indian goods shipped there.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that India is actively working to resolve its trade differences with the United States, describing the tariffs imposed on Indian exports as “unfair”.
Jaishankar said discussions are ongoing to find common ground on long-pending trade issues. “We have issues with the United States today — mainly that we haven’t yet reached a landing ground in our trade discussions. This has led to certain tariffs being levied on us, which we have publicly said are unfair,” he said, speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave (KEC 2025) in New Delhi. |
