Trump says US-India trade deal not final, warns of 25% tariffs

US President Donald Trump has said the trade deal with India is not finalised, as he stressed that India imposes more tariffs than almost any other country.

Trump spoke to reporters on Tuesday on Air Force One on his way back to Washington from Scotland and was asked about the trade deal with India.

“No, it’s not,” Trump said when asked if the deal with India is finalised.

He was also asked about reports that India is preparing to face higher US tariffs between 20-25 per cent, to which he replied, “Ya, I think so.” “India has been…they're my friends, and he's my friend,” Trump said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“And you know, they ended the war with Pakistan at my request, and that was great. And Pakistan did also….we did a lot of, a lot of great settlements, including the recent one, as you know, with Cambodia,” Trump said, again repeating the claim that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan through trade.

On what he is expecting from the deal with India, he said, “We are going to see. But India has been a good friend. But India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country…. over the years. But now I'm in charge, and you just can't do that." "I think the trade deals are working out very well, hopefully for everybody but for the United States, they're very, very good.”

A US team will visit India on August 25 for the next round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement between the two countries, an official said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Though the team is coming at the end of next month, both sides remain engaged to iron out differences for an interim trade deal before August 1, which marks the end of the suspension period of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on dozens of countries, including India (26 per cent).

India and the US teams concluded the fifth round of talks for the agreement last week in Washington.

On April 2 this year, Trump announced high reciprocal tariffs. The implementation of high tariffs was immediately suspended for 90 days till July 9 and later until August 1, as America is negotiating trade deals with various countries.