- Trump confirms India trade deal remains unchanged.
- India will pay tariffs, not the United States.
- US removed punitive tariffs after India's commitment.
In the wake of the US Supreme Court's decision on tariffs, US President Donald Trump said there is no change in the trade deal with India and emphasised that the "India deal is on". He asserted the United States is not paying the tariff, but New Delhi is paying under the new trade deal mechanism.
"I think my relationship with India is fantastic, and we're doing trade with India. India pulled out of Russia. India was getting its oil from Russia. And they pulled way back at my request, because we want to settle that horrible war where 25,000 people are dying every month," Trump said at a news conference Friday in the White House hours after the US Supreme Court verdict striking down his sweeping tariffs.
He said his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is, I would say, great."
Trump's tariff tantrum on India
Earlier this month, as the US and India announced they reached a framework for an Interim Agreement on trade, Trump issued an Executive Order removing the 25 per cent punitive tariffs imposed on India for its purchases of Russian oil, with the US President noting the "commitment" by New Delhi to stop directly or indirectly importing energy from Moscow and purchase American energy products.
Under the trade deal, Washington will charge a reduced reciprocal tariff on New Delhi, lowering it from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.
"They will be paying tariff, not us": Trump
When asked about the deal with India, Trump said "nothing changes". "Nothing changes. They'll be paying tariffs, and we will not be paying tariffs. So deal with India is that they pay tariffs. This is a reversal for what it used to be, as you know, India, and I think Prime Minister Modi is a great gentleman, a great man, actually, but he was much smarter than the people that he was against in terms of the United States, he was ripping us off. So we made a deal with India. It's a fair deal now, and we are not paying tariffs to them, and they are paying tariffs. We did a little flip," Trump said.
"The India deal is on all the deals that are on, we're just going to do it" in a different way.
(With inputs from agency)