Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States and India have finalised a trade agreement following a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with reciprocal tariffs on Indian exports cut to 18 percent.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the deal was struck “effective immediately” at Modi’s request and out of mutual “friendship and respect”. He said the US would reduce its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods from around 25 percent to 18 percent, and that India would “move forward” to lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US products to zero.
The US president also said Modi agreed to increase purchases of American goods, including energy, technology, agricultural products and coal totalling more than $500 billion, and to stop buying Russian oil, a decision Trump linked to broader efforts to support peace in Ukraine.
Modi welcomed the outcome on social media, saying he was “delighted” that Made in India products would now have a reduced tariff of 18 percent. He thanked Trump on behalf of India’s 1.4 billion people and said closer cooperation between the world’s two largest democracies would benefit both nations.
The announcement ends months of trade friction in which the US had imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods, including punitive levies linked to oil purchases. The new tariff structure offers relief for exporters and signals a reset in bilateral economic relations.
