The United States and India are nearing a trade deal that could slash U.S. tariffs on Indian imports from the massive 50% to 15-16% and possibly entail India agreeing to gradually reduce Russian oil imports, Indian newspaper Mint reported on Wednesday, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the talks.
A potential deal could be announced as early as at next week’s summit of the ASEAN Southeast Asian bloc in Malaysia, according to the report.
Indian officials did not respond to Mint’s request to comment on the report.
The United States and India have been locked in difficult trade talks for months, with the Trump Administration looking to slash its massive trade deficit with Asia’s second-biggest economy.
Amid these difficult talks, U.S. President Donald Trump has singled out India as a target to punish for buying large volumes of Russian crude oil and supporting the Kremlin’s energy revenues.
President Trump doubled the 25% tariff on India to 50% as of August, to punish it for continued purchase of Russian oil.
In an X message on Wednesday, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked President Trump for a recent phone call, but did not reference either trade talks or India’s purchases of Russian oil.
“May our two great democracies continue to illuminate the world with hope and stand united against terrorism in all its forms,” Modi wrote.
President Trump on Sunday reiterated his threat to make India pay “massive” tariffs unless it stops buying Russian oil, repeating that Modi had assured him those purchases would stop.
Last week, India neither confirmed nor denied that it would indeed cut or halt imports of Russian crude and said its key energy policy driver is “to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer.”
Randhir Jaiswal, an official spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said “India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective.”
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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