India-US trade pact: Trump says ‘close to making deal' after fresh tariffs letters to 14 countries
'Now, we've made a deal with the United Kingdom, we've made a deal with China….We're close to making a deal with India. Others we met with and we don't think we're going to be able to make a deal, so we just send them a letter. If you want to play ball, this is what you have to pay,' Trump said on Monday.
The US government sent out the first tranche of 'letters' to various countries detailing the tariffs that the US will impose on products from those countries as they enter America.
Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Tunisia were among the countries that got the letter, signed by Trump.
The US President said that many countries were 'ripping off' America by charging them exceptionally high tariffs.
'And what the tariffs are doing is they're driving people in and companies into the United States,' he said while speaking to reporters ahead of a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Monday.
India is currently eyeing an extended deadline for reciprocal tariffs as the US imposed 25 percent tax on imported goods from Japan and South Korea, kicking in from August 1.
Trump, who has repeatedly pointed out US' role in negotiating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after escalations triggered by the Pahalgam terror attack, said that the threatened to not do trade with either country if the fighting doesn't stop.
'We did a job with India and Pakistan, Serbia, Kosovo, Rwanda and the Congo, and this was all over the last three weeks or so… and others that were ready to fight,' Trump said.
'And we stopped a lot of fights. I think the very big one, frankly, a very, very big one, was India and Pakistan. And we stopped that over trade,' he said.
'We said we're not going to be dealing with you at all if you're going to fight. And they were maybe at a nuclear stage. They're both nuclear powers. And I think stopping that was very important,' Trump added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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