Modi visits White House to talk trade after Trump reveals new tariff plan – BBC.com
Source: BBC News
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump have met in the White House to discuss trade and other matters
Trump announced a deal for Delhi to import more US oil and gas to shrink the trade deficit between the two countries.
The meeting between the two comes after the US president announced a new reciprocal tariff plan, and said “our allies are worse than our enemies” when it comes to import taxes
The tit-for-tat tariffs will apply to all US trading partners, and are the latest in a series of tariff measures the Trump administration has announced
No starting date for the tariffs has been confirmed, and Trump has previously used the threat of tariffs as a negotiation tactic
Watch: Trump says India and US will be in negotiations on tariffs
Donald Trump has previously called tariffs “the most beautiful word in the dictionary”.
Before meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House, Trump spent about an hour speaking to media about his “reciprocal tariffs” plan.
We don’t have many details beyond it being a tit for tat system where the Trump administration will determine custom tariffs for countries, based on certain restrictions that country might have on US goods.
The meeting between Trump and Modi followed the same theme – tariff talk.
“Whatever India charges, we charge them,” Trump told a packed room of reporters waiting for an update on the bi-lateral meeting.
Modi said that “in order to ensure India’s energy security, we will focus on trade in oil and gas” with the US. Trump said the US would increase military sales to India.
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The return of Trump to the White House has reignited anxieties among Indian professionals in the US, particularly H-1B visa holders.
While Trump has previously cracked down on the skilled visa programme – raising rejection rates from 5-8% under Obama to 24% in 2018 – it remains unclear if similar restrictions will return.
Tech leaders and Trump allies like Elon Musk support the H-1B system, but Trump’s administration has been sharply divided on immigration policy.
Indians, who receive 72% of H-1B visas, are particularly vulnerable. Many fear not just visa hurdles but also growing hostility towards Indian immigrants.
The latest concern is Trumpâs attempt to deny automatic US citizenship to children born to temporary workers. Though blocked by federal judges for now, a higher court could revive it.
A birthright citizenship order would hit Indians hard – more than five million Indians in the US hold non-immigrant visas, external. Online forums are flooded with worried South Asian parents-to-be, anxiously awaiting clarity on their childrenâs future.
Trump and Modi shared warm relations during the US presidentâs first term in office. In 2020, the Indian prime minister welcomed Trump to the country with a huge rally, a day-long affair with music and dance performances held at the worldâs largest cricket stadium in the city of Ahmedabad in Modiâs home state of Gujarat.
Tens of thousands of Indians attended the event â aptly called âNamaste Trump!â – in a grand display of support for the US president, whose love for a spectacle and giant crowds is well-known.
âTrump thinks big and the world knows what he has done to realise the American dream,â Modi told a cheering crowd in his welcome speech.
The event came on the heels of a similar âHowdy, Modi!â rally in 2019 at a football stadium in Houston where Modi and Trump addressed an audience of 50,000 Indians living in the US.
Once again, warm hugs and gleeful smiles were exchanged as both leaders made towering proclamations about their partnership.
But as analysts have pointed out, these visits are not just about theatrics â they are carefully planned diplomatic moves.
A lot has changed since Modi visited Houston in 2019, when he and Trump addressed a grand community event named âHowdy, Modi!â
Trump called the gathering of 50,000 people a “profoundly historic eventâ â possibly the largest ever reception of a foreign leader in the US.
For Modi it was a show of Indiaâs strength as a rising superpower and of his popularity with the diaspora.
Five years on, Trump and Modi share warm personal ties but the IndiaâUS relationship is more complicated.
While still popular, Modi has been humbled politically, having failed to secure an outright majority in last yearâs elections. The Indian economy is slowing down with foreign investors taking money out of the markets.
Tariffs and H-1B visas have emerged as thorny issues, while an alleged plot by an Indian agent to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil put diplomatic ties to the test last year.
But Indiaâs role as a counter to Chinaâs regional ambitions remains an important strategic element of the relationship.
PM Modiâs visit to the White House comes at a complex moment, as
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