'Talks are going on, no decision yet'! Jaishankar debunks Trump's ultimatum on India's 'tariff waiver proposal'
On Wednesday, in Doha, the Qatari capital, US President Trump asserted that India has sent a message to the effect of abolishing all tariffs on American-imported products!
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar did not concur with US President Donald Trump's request for a 'tariff waiver proposal'. He did not reject it either. On Thursday, he stated, "India and the US are in a complex negotiation phase on bilateral tariffs." The Foreign Minister asserted that the matter has not been settled yet.
On Wednesday, Trump boasted in Qatar's capital Doha that India has sent a message to eliminate all forms of tariffs on products being imported from America! Trump asserted, "India has given us such an offer where they actually do not want to take any tariffs." Jaishankar asserted this back to him on Thursday. He stated, "Nothing is finalized until everything is finalized. Any trade deal must be mutually advantageous. It must be beneficial for both nations. That is our hope from the trade deal." The Foreign Minister added that until the New Delhi-Washington trade deal is finalized, it is not possible to make any pre-announcement regarding it.
Incidentally, in April Trump placed a tariff limit of 27 percent on Indian products. Following that, Trump declared that he was placing the suspension at 90 days. The clock runs out on July 9. Prior to that, there is a bilateral trade agreement being finalized by India and the United States through ongoing discussions. This is the environment where Trump reportedly in the meeting in Qatar on Thursday told Apple CEO Tim Cook to not invest in India. According to him, "I told him (Cook), I hear you are manufacturing things in India. I don't want you to manufacture things in India." Trump further stated that India will take care of itself and India is doing very nicely.
