New York:
US Vice President JD Vance has called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “tough negotiator” and accused New Delhi of taking advantage of the US, while predicting that India can be of the first countries, who can attack the business deal to trades mutual tariffs.
In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Vance said that “good conversation” was now with India on tariffs.
India is one of the countries interacting with the US to avoid high import taxes, most of them declared by President Donald Trump, at stagnation.
“Modi, the Prime Minister, is a difficult negotiator, but we are going to unbalance that relationship, and that is why the President is doing what he is doing,” Vance said during the interview.
“Is India coming first deal?” Vance was asked in an interview on Fox News’s ‘Special Report’.
“I don’t know that this will be your first deal, I think it will definitely be one of the first deals. Very soon appears, we have got conversation with Japan, with Korea, we have had a conversation with some people in Europe, and obviously we have a good conversation in India,” said Vance.
US President Trump announced a mutual tariff on several countries including India and China on 2 April. However, on 9 April, he announced the 90-day suspension of these tariffs till 9 July this year, except for the people of China and Hong Kong, about 75 countries contacted the US for trade deals.
However, 10 percent of the baseline tariffs imposed on countries on 2 April are effectively made, in addition to 25 percent of duties on steel, aluminum and auto components.
“What the President has said, we just want to regenerate business. So some conversations I have interacted in India, for example, I think most Americans will not know, it cannot appreciate it, we have great agricultural products.”
“Our farmers are making great things, but the Indian market is effectively closed for American farmers. So it means that it depends more on foreign rivals to American farmers and American consumers that we eat.”
“What will our India deal do, fundamentally, I think, India is open to American technology. It will open India for American farmers. It will create more good American jobs. And it is a business deal that Donald Trump likes.”
Vance said, “He is not anti-trade. He is anti-trade. He is not a completely business where foreign contestants take advantage of us, Indians, let’s be honest, they have taken advantage of us for a very long time.”
New Delhi and Washington are now negotiating to seal a bilateral trade agreement as per PM Modi’s agreements with Trump at Washington DC in February. Trade pact is expected to address many types of issues including tariffs and market access.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
