In Attempt To Squeeze Moscow, Trump Cuts Deal To Lower Tariffs, Increase Oil Sales to India

Like the Eastern portion of America emerging from its Snowmageddeon, the tense relationship between India and the United States is experiencing a thaw as the leaders of the two nations announce a new trade deal that enables them to start calling each other friends again.President Trump said Monday he is dramatically lowering tariffs on India because Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to stop buying Russian oil. Mr. Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian imports in August with half of the duty charged as a punishment for India importing Russian oil. India has relied on cheap Russian oil despite an embargo tied to the Ukraine war.The Trump administration views cutting Moscow’s oil revenue as a key method to end the war. India has been one of Russia’s largest crude customers but it has been cutting back since November according to analytics firm Vortexa.Russia is discounting its oil prices after having trouble finding customers as a result of sanctions, according to Vortexa. The firm says the amount of Russia-origin crude on the open seas is stockpiling as a result of few takers.The decision to impose punitive tariffs on India all but ended trade discussions that had been ongoing between Washington-Delhi since Mr. Trump’s Liberation Day announcement, The New York Sun previously reported. Mr. Trump says that along with ending Russian oil imports, Mr. Modi has agreed to buy “much more” oil from America and potentially from Venezuela. America is temporarily controlling Venezuela’s oil sales after seizing ousted President Nicolás Maduro in a bold Caracas raid by the American military in early January.The new agreement between America and the world’s most populous country will lower India’s tariff rate to 18 percent. Mr. Trump says India will drop its tariffs on American goods to zero as part of the agreement. India has had some of the highest tariffs in the world on certain goods, including agricultural products that can reach 100 percent. “The Prime Minister also committed to ‘BUY AMERICAN,’ at a much higher level, in addition to over $500 BILLION DOLLARS of U.S. Energy, Technology, Agricultural, Coal, and many other products,” Mr. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post announcing the deal.Mr. Modi has not confirmed that tariffs will go down to zero or that India will stop importing Russian oil altogether. However, he praised the agreement.“When two large economies and the world’s largest democracies work together, it benefits our people and unlocks immense opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation,” Mr. Modi said in his own X post.“I look forward to working closely with him to take our partnership to unprecedented heights,” Mr. Modi added.The deal with Mr. Trump comes less than a week after Delhi reached a trade pact with the European Union to reduce bilateral tariffs significantly. The negotiations between European trade officials and India had dragged on for nearly two decades without an agreement. Mr. Modi called it the “mother of all deals.”Mr. Trump’s trade policies gave the momentum to India to seal the long-awaited European trade deal, the nonpartisan Lowy Institute claims. In turn, that agreement may have triggered movement in negotiations between Washington and Delhi.

In Attempt To Squeeze Moscow, Trump Cuts Deal To Lower Tariffs, Increase Oil Sales to India

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