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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025

--PM Modi: US-India teams working to conclude trade discussions at earliest 

--PM Modi: Looking forward to speak with US President Trump 

--PM Modi: India, US are close friends and natural partners 

NEW DELHI – Mirroring US President Donald Trump's promising sentiment on India-US trade negotiations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday said the two countries' respective teams were working to conclude the discussions at the earliest. "India and the US are close friends and natural partners. I am confident that our trade negotiations will pave the way for unlocking the limitless potential of the India-US partnership," Modi wrote on microblogging site X, formerly Twitter. 

Modi's comments came a few hours after Trump, demonstrating a shift in his tone, said he was "pleased" to announce that India and the US were continuing negotiations to address the trade barriers between the two nations. "I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our great nations," Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social. 

The two global leaders' optimistic outlook on India-US trade negotiations comes as a huge positive for Indian exporters who are reeling under the heat of Washington's 50% tariff on Indian goods to the US, which accounts for nearly 20% of India's total exports. In 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), India exported goods worth $86.51 billion to the US and had a trade surplus of $40.82 billion. Citing displeasure over the high trade gap, the US has imposed 25% reciprocal tariffs on India, with an additional 25% as punitive tariff for trading with Russia. US' higher tariffs on India result in a pricing disadvantage of 30–35% for Indian exports, making them less competitive compared with those from China, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, and other Southeast and South Asian countries. 

The proposed trade deal with the US is seen as an insulation against the reciprocal tariffs but New Delhi and Washington are cross at their differences over the US' demand to get access to India's politically and socially sensitive farm and dairy sector. India has always maintained a protective stance on its farm and dairy sector, but the US wants to push genetically modified crops and dairy products into India under the deal. New Delhi is unwilling to yield to these demands. If sustained, the 50% tariff could hurt India's growth by nearly half a percentage point.

Amid all this, Trump calling Prime Minister Modi a "very good friend" brings hope that the two countries will try to iron out the differences. Both the leaders wrote that they would speak to each other soon. "We will work together to secure a brighter, more prosperous future for both our people," Modi said. These comments come after negotiations between India and the US for a bilateral trade agreement, which was expected to begin from Aug. 25, were postponed indefinitely without a new timeline.  End

US$1 = INR 88.10

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Avishek Dutta

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