Trump, Modi meet at Oval Office as US weighs tariffs
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() India Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, the same day the president signed a memorandum proposing reciprocal tariffs.

“They’re going to be purchasing a lot of our oil and gas,” the president said. “They need it. And we have it.”

The goal of their talks is to reach an agreement on how to address what Trump said are “long-running disparities” in the U.S.-India trade relationship.

Trump says the U.S. wants and is entitled to a “certain level playing field.”

Modi said that, on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India, he wanted to congratulate Trump on his “grand and historic victory” in last fall’s election. He said he was confident U.S.-India relations would be even warmer than they had been during Trump’s first term.

Additionally, Trump said his administration approved the extradition to India of one of the plotters of the 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

Standing alongside Modi, Trump appeared to be referencing Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was convicted in 2011 in the U.S. for plotting an attack on a Danish newspaper.

“He’s going to be going back to India to face justice,” Trump said.

In a post-meeting news conference, Trump said he wants to see an end to the war in Ukraine but acknowledged negotiations “haven’t really started” yet. Trump also said he would like China to play a role in the talks.

Modi and Trump have had a good relationship and have been allies to a certain extent. India, however, is a country the United States operates at a trade deficit with.

Before speaking with Trump, Modi met separately with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a Trump administration official, and national security adviser Mike Waltz.

Trump has already imposed tariffs on China and threatened them against Canada and Mexico. On Monday, he expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum initially imposed during his first term.

The president has repeatedly dubbed India a “tariff king.” In response, New Delhi has shown a willingness to buy more American oil while lowering its own tariffs on U.S. goods, including on some Harley-Davidson motorcycles, from 50% to 40%. India also dropped retaliatory tariffs on United States almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts in 2023.

According to the Associated Press, the Indo-U.S. goods and services trade totaled around $190.1 billion in 2023. U.S. exports to India were worth nearly $70 billion and imports $120 billion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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