Trump says he has 'great' relations with Modi, India will cut tariff
New York, Oct 1 : United States President Donald Trump said on Monday that he has a "great" relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has told him that India is going to reduce substantially the tariffs on imports from the US.
He said that "tariff king" India on its own has reached out to the US to make a trade deal, without Washington calling New Delhi for negotiations.
He was speaking at a White House news conference on the revised North American Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico -- a landmark deal that fulfills one of his election promises.
Answering a question from a reporter, he said, "I have spoken Prime Minister Modi and he is going to reduce them (tariffs) very substantially."
He added, "My relationship with India is great, with Prime Minister Modi is great. And they are going to start doing a lot."
Scoring a domestic political point, he asserted that as in the case of the NAFTA and and other trade issues, none of the previous presidents or trade representatives had spoken to India about the high tariffs.
He quoted Modi as telling him, "Nobody every spoke to me" about the high tariffs.
"They (India) have called us to make a deal, we didn't even call them; they called us to make a deal, which is like shocking to people," he added.
Trump explained that he called India a "tariff king" because "it charges us tremendous tariffs."
He cited the example Harley Davidson motorcycles, which would resonate with bikers who are a section of his electoral base, saying that India charged 100 per cent duties on it.
He said, "That is so high that it is like barrier, in other words who is going to buy it if it costs you so much."
"Now they have reduced that substantially, but it is still too high," he asserted.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
