U.S. and India to boost bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030

New Delhi and Washington will work more than double bilateral trade at $ 500 billion by 2030, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Mod said on Thursday at a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump.

Speaking at the end of the meeting of the two leaders in Washington, Modi also said that “our teams will work very soon, a mutually beneficial trade agreement”.

Trump recognized India’s recent decision to reduce prices on certain imports and said it would start talks about trade disparities and hoped to reach an agreement.

The remarks occurred a few hours after Trump signed a Presidential memorandum describing its tax plan “Reciprocal prices” on foreign nations, including India.

The United States would simply charge the same rate rates as India invoices, said Trump, while the trade deficit with India could be addressed with the sale of oil and gas.

Simple average of India The prices on countries with the most favored nation status are 17%, compared to the United States which levy 3.3%. The United States enjoyed MFN status with most major economies.

Total trade in American goods with India is estimated to 129 billion dollars in 2024According to the office of the US trade representative. Excess of India with the United States, it is second trading partner, reached $ 45.7 billion last year.

The United States will increase its military sales in India from this year and will finally provide F-35 fighter planes to the Asian ally, Trump said in the briefing, in order to confront what he called ” The threat of Islamic radical terrorism “. India is The largest importer of defense equipment in the world.

Modi said that India and the United States would also work together on the development of artificial intelligence and semiconductors while focusing on the creation of solid supply chains for strategic minerals.

The high objective of $ 500 billion in commerce could be achievable, told Raghuram Rajan, professor of financing at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in CNBC “Squawk Box Asia. “”

In addition to moving away from Russia – the main defense supplier of India – to the United States for weapons, India could also increase its liquefied natural gas purchases from American manufacturers, added Rajan.

Trump-Modi’s meeting was threatening the American prices.

“We are, at the moment, a reciprocal nation … We are going to have everything that India invoices, we invoic them. Any other country invoices, we invoice them. So, this is called reciprocal, which I think Being a very fair, “said the American president during the press briefing.

The president said that the reciprocal prices will not take effect immediately because his administration is working on determining the appropriate rate levels for each country affected.

Trump has already slapped prices on China, Canada and Mexico as well as on the world’s prices on steel and aluminum imports. Trump’s prices on Canada and Mexico are currently on a break after the two countries have committed to repress illegal drug trafficking at their respective borders with the United States

Despite the encouraging tones of Meeting, signs of friction remains in the American-Indian relationship, said Daniel Balazs, researcher at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, such as the question of illegal immigration and the close ties of India with Russia .

“The latter, in particular, is unlikely to disappear anytime soon and will probably remain a painful point between the two parties,” he said.