Deal with India will export more American farm products, help counter Russian aggression: US leaders
New York (PTI): Top American leaders said the trade deal announced by US President Donald Trump with “close partner” India will export more farm products from America to the massive Indian market and the agreement will also help counter Russian aggression.
“Congratulations to President Trump for a superb accomplishment on today’s trade agreement with India,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator Jim Risch said in a post on X Monday.
He said he is “very glad to learn that the world’s oldest and largest democracy has agreed to reduce trade barriers with the United States.”
Describing India as a “close partner” of the US, with a prominent diaspora in America, Risch said New Delhi is an integral partner in countering China's “malign influence" in the Indo-Pacific.
“Now, under this new agreement India has pledged to buy American. It will also help the US counter Russian aggression and in its work to bring an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine by cutting off India’s support of the Russian energy sector,” Risch said.
US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins thanked Trump for “once again” delivering for American farmers.
“New US-India deal will export more American farm products to India's massive market, lifting prices, and pumping cash into rural America,” she said in a post on X.
Noting that in 2024, America’s agricultural trade deficit with India was $1.3 billion, she said India’s growing population is an “important market” for American agricultural products and the deal will go a long way to reducing this deficit.
“America First victory on top of the dozens of deals for agriculture,” she said.
Describing Trump as "Dealmaker in Chief”, Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Chairman of the National Energy Dominance Council Doug Burgum said the US President “continues to bring in record investment from U.S. energy purchases. This is energy diplomacy at work, strengthening international relationships and bolstering the US economy!”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced Monday morning that India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington will charge a reduced reciprocal tariff on Delhi, lowering it from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.
Senator Lindsey Graham said India “has more than earned” this reduction.
“Well played, President Trump. I think your message about ending this war -- by having (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s customers who prop up his war machine have to recalculate -- is working,” Graham said on X.
“Through their behaviour, India has more than earned this reduction. I’m hoping that the other big nations that buy Russian will follow India’s direction. Putin will only come to the table when the pain is so great. We’re not there yet, but with India’s actions, we are moving closer. End the bloodbath in Ukraine now,” Graham said.
Graham has proposed a sanctions bill that could impose 500 per cent tariffs on countries for buying Russian oil.
Chairman and Co-Founder of Washington DC based strategic advisory firm The Asia Group and former Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the trade deal between the US and India is a welcome but "overdue signal”.
He said that both sides now seek to restore a more positive trajectory to the bilateral relationship after several months of damaging setbacks in what was once seen as a defining partnership for the 21st century.
“Even though there are clear indications of market opening steps - particularly for US firms seeking to operate in the rising Indian commercial sector - the deal takes a back seat to the blockbuster Europe - India accord announced last week," Campbell said in a statement to PTI.
"The Washington-Delhi deal will help restore a degree of normalcy to bilateral relations but re-establishing strategic momentum between the leadership remains challenging,” Campbell said.
Trump and Modi spoke over the phone on Monday, after which the US President announced that the two sides had agreed to the trade deal.
“It was an Honour to speak with Prime Minister Modi of India this morning. He is one of my greatest friends and a Powerful and Respected Leader of his Country. We spoke about many things, including Trade, and ending the War with Russia and Ukraine," Trump said.
"He agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela. This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!” Trump said.
“Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%."
"They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and non-tariff barriers against the United States to ZERO. The Prime Minister also committed to “BUY AMERICAN,” at a much higher level, in addition to over $500 BILLION DOLLARS of US Energy, Technology, Agricultural, Coal, and many other products. Our amazing relationship with India will be even stronger going forward. Prime Minister Modi and I are two people who GET THINGS DONE, something that cannot be said for most.”
Modi said it was wonderful to speak with his “dear friend" Trump.
"Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%. Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement,” Modi said.
"When two large economies and the world’s largest democracies work together, it benefits our people and unlocks immense opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation. President Trump’s leadership is vital for global peace, stability, and prosperity. India fully supports his efforts for peace. I look forward to working closely with him to take our partnership to unprecedented heights,” Modi said.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
