US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that a proposed trade agreement between the United States and India failed to materialise because Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not place a call to US President Donald Trump.
The remarks followed comments made by President Trump earlier this week, in which he indicated that Prime Minister Modi was aware of Washington’s dissatisfaction with India’s continued purchases of Russian oil. The US President also warned that tariffs on Indian goods could be raised “very quickly”.
The warning came at a time when the two countries were engaged in negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement. To date, six rounds of talks have been held, with discussions including a framework to address tariffs of up to 50 per cent imposed on Indian exports to the United States.
Lutnick said he had encouraged Prime Minister Modi to speak directly with President Trump in order to finalise the agreement. However, he said that India was uncomfortable with taking that step and, as a result, no call was made. He indicated that this lack of direct engagement prevented the deal from being concluded.
Lutnick also stated that the United States had proceeded to finalise trade agreements with Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam during the same period. He said that US negotiators had initially expected the India deal to be concluded ahead of those agreements, and had negotiated other deals on that assumption.
As a result, he added, subsequent agreements were concluded at higher tariff rates, creating complications for the proposed US–India pact. He suggested that the delay had ultimately left India at a disadvantage, as the broader set of deals announced by Washington had altered the overall negotiating landscape.
