US-India Ties: Trade Talks 'Working Out Very Well', Says Trump; Calls PM Modi 'Smart Man'

Amid the ongoing trade tariff war with a number of nations across the world, US President Donald Trump on Friday asserted that the trade tariff talks would "work out very well between India and the US" while calling PM Narendra Modi a "very smart man" and a "great friend" of his.

"Prime Minister Modi was here just recently, and we have always been very good friends. And I want to say you have a great prime minister," the US president said in the White House on Friday.

The remarks hold significance as earlier Trump criticised India's high tariffs on American goods. "India is a very high-tariff nation. They charge us a lot," Trump said in his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the Maryland suburb of Washington DC.

"We will soon impose reciprocal tariffs- they charge us, we charge them. Whatever a company or a country, such as India or China, charges, we want to be fair, hence, reciprocal", Trump further added.

However, on Friday, Trump appeared optimistic regarding tariff talks between Washington and India. His statement came days after the declaration of a 25 percent tariff on all imported vehicles entering the United States.

PM Modi had visited Washington DC in February and held bilateral discussions with Trump. The visit came less than a month after Trump was sworn in as US President for a second term.

Trump's Tariff Spree

Right after assuming the office for his second tenure as the US president, Trump said that he could put 25 percent trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on February. For products from China, Trump announced a levy of 60 percent levy.

In his inaugural address, Trump pledged that tariffs would be imposed and said foreign countries would be paying the trade penalties, even though those taxes are currently paid by domestic importers and often passed along to consumers.

However, a day after pausing planned tariffs for at least a month for Mexico, US President Donald Trump on February 4 agreed to do the same with Canada after a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. However, Trump's tariffs against China are still slated to go into effect on Tuesday.

On February 3, Trump paused the tariffs it imposed on Mexico. In a tweet, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, President of Mexico in her conversation with USA President Donald Trump said that the tariffs have been paused for a month. 

Later, he threatened the European Union with a 200 percent retaliatory tariff on European wine, champagne, and spirits if the European Union went forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey. The European tariff was expected to go into effect on April 1.

Trump has also threatened Canada with new tariffs targeting Canadian lumber and dairy products. Citing Canada's roughly 250% tariff on US dairy exports to the country, President Trump said in an Oval Office address, "Canada has been ripping us off for years on lumber and on dairy products," CNN reported.

Moreover, he doubled his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum products imported from Canada to 50 percent. The move came in response to Ontario's decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on its electricity exports to the United States.

More recently, Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on imports from countries purchasing oil or gas from Venezuela. Taking it to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump announced that Venezuela has been “very hostile” to the US and countries purchasing oil from it will be forced to pay the tariff on all their trade to the US starting April 2.