Did Trump Lower Tariffs on India, a Game of Words?
Has the US-India Tariff Negotiation Been Resolved?
On the 2nd, Trump announced on social media that he had spoken with Indian Prime Minister Modi, and Modi had promised to stop buying Russian oil and instead buy oil from the US or Venezuela, as well as purchase $500 billion worth of American goods. Therefore, the US tariff on India would be reduced from 25% to 18%.
Modi also confirmed that he had spoken with Trump, but there were two very intriguing points:
Firstly, Modi only stated "he was happy to learn that the US tariff on India has been lowered to 18%", without mentioning anything about Trump's statement that "India would purchase $500 billion worth of American goods";
Secondly, the tariff rate imposed by Trump on India should be 50%. The 25% is referred to as "reciprocal tariffs," while the other 25% is the so-called "penalty tariffs" for India's purchase of Russian oil.
The problem lies here. Although Trump said that Modi had promised to give up buying Russian oil, he accordingly reduced the 25% tariff to 18%, but did not explicitly state whether the other 25% tariff would be abolished.
Therefore, due to the lack of detailed information disclosed by both the US and India, it cannot yet be considered that Trump and Modi have reached an agreement on the tariff issue. After all, both of them are masters in the field of "winning," and perhaps their statements on that day were just another publicity stunt.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856099571096580/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.