US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered to talk to him about tariff relief, the purchase of more US oil, gas, and fighter jets, and potential concessions that have not yet ended the dispute over trade.
The offer came during the two leaders’ meeting at the White House, just hours after Trump criticized the environment for American businesses in India and announced a roadmap for reciprocal tariffs on all countries that impose duties on US imports.
Trump said, “Prime Minister Modi recently announced that India has reduced unfair and very strong tariffs that restrict our access to the Indian market. And I have to say that’s a really big problem.”
The leaders agreed to work towards an agreement to address trade concerns. Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri said after the meeting that such an agreement could be reached in the next seven months. A senior Trump administration official also said a deal could be reached this year.
At a joint press conference with Modi, Trump said some of the leaders’ agreements were targeted: India wants to increase purchases of US defense equipment, including fighter jets, by “billions of dollars” and could make Washington the “number one supplier” of oil and natural gas.
Modi also said Delhi wants to double its trade with Washington by 2030. Long-planned cooperation on nuclear energy, also discussed by the leaders, faces ongoing legal challenges.
“We are also paving the way to eventually provide India with F-35 stealth fighter jets,” Trump said.
Indian official Misri later said the F-35 deal was a proposal at this point and no formal process was underway. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on any deal.
Although Trump had a warm relationship with Modi during his first term, he again said on Thursday that India’s tariffs were “too high” and promised to meet them, even though his previous tariffs on steel and aluminum had hit metal producer India particularly hard.
“We act reciprocally with India,” Trump said at the press conference, adding: “What India demands, we demand.”
Modi, on the other hand, pledged to protect India’s interests.
“One thing I have learnt from President Trump, which I appreciate very much, is that he puts national interests first,” Modi said, sitting next to Trump in the Oval Office. “Like him, I also put India’s national interest above all else,” he emphasized.
The two leaders praised each other and agreed to deepen security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and start joint production in technologies such as artificial intelligence, in a veiled reference to competition with China. Asked about India’s actions before the meeting, one source described it as a “gift” for Trump designed to ease trade tensions. A Trump aide said the President believes defense and energy sales to India will reduce the US trade deficit.
It is not clear whether the case of billionaire Gautam Adani, who was indicted by the US Justice Department in November for alleged bribery, came up in the talks. Adani hails from Modi’s western state of Gujarat and the Adani Group runs several major infrastructure projects around the world.
Opponents and critics often argue that the rapid rise of Adani’s empire, which ranges from ports to energy, is partly due to its close ties with and favorable treatment from administrations led by Modi’s BJP and its allies. The two have repeatedly denied impropriety.
Irritated by a reporter’s question on Thursday on whether he had discussed the Adani issue with Trump, Modi said countries do not meet to discuss such issues.
Richard Rossow, head of the India program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank, told Reuters that tariffs would continue to dominate relations between the two countries.
“This is going to be a boxing match,” he said. “India is prepared to take a few blows but there is a limit to that.”
The US has a $45.6 billion trade deficit with India. The US has a trade-weighted average tariff rate of about 2.2% while India’s is 12%, according to World Trade Organization data.
Trump wants more help from India on unauthorized immigration. India is a major source of immigrants to the US, including many working in the tech industry on work visas and others in the US illegally.
Trump said the US has approved the extradition of a suspect in the 2008 extremist attacks in India’s financial capital Mumbai that killed more than 160 people.
Modi met with Elon Musk on Thursday at Blair House, the prime minister’s residence opposite the White House. Musk is an important ally of Trump and his Starlink company’s bid to enter the South Asian market could be on the agenda.
India could be critical to Trump’s strategy to thwart China, which many in his administration see as the US’s biggest rival. India is wary of its neighbor China’s military build-up and competes for many of the same markets.
Modi is also worried that Trump could strike a deal with China that excludes India, according to Mukesh Aghi, head of the lobby group US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
Trump said on Thursday that he hopes to help resolve conflicts along the India-China border.
