Trump says India has offered America ‘no tariffs’

US President Donald Trump meets with business leaders at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on May 15, 2025, in Doha, Qatar. (Win McNamee/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that India has offered to eliminate tariffs on the United States as part of a potential trade deal. If that comes to pass, it could represent a significant breakthrough with an increasingly important U.S. trading partner.

“India is the highest — one of the highest tariff nations in the world. It’s very hard to sell into India, and they’ve offered us a deal where, basically, they’re willing to literally charge us no tariff,” Trump said during a roundtable with business leaders in Doha, Qatar.

The president said the tariff India places on U.S. goods is “so high” that it prevents much business from taking place between the two nations. The White House has long criticized India’s high tariffs, including 70 per cent on autos, 20 per cent on some networking equipment, 80 per cent on rice imports. It also has chastised India for its non-tariff trade barriers, including burdensome regulatory requirements for importers.

So a zero tariff — if that’s in fact what India is offering — would be a welcome change for U.S. companies looking to export their goods to the world’s most populous country.

“(India) have actually told us, I assume you too, (U.S. Treasury Secretary) Scott (Bessent)… that there will be no tariff, right? Would you say that’s a difference? They’re the highest, and now they’re saying no tariff,” Trump said.

India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. is India’s largest trade partner as of 2024, yet India ranks tenth in the list of U.S. trading partners for the same year. The trade deficit between the U.S. and India has been widening, with the U.S. importing US$45.7 billion more from India than it exported there in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

India is one of several countries or trading blocks attempting to strike deals with the U.S. after Trump’s sweeping set of tariffs has upended global trade.

Trump has imposed a baseline 10 per cent levy on all goods imported into the U.S., and threatened to slap so-called “reciprocal tariffs” at still higher rates on nations in early July. India faces a 26 per cent “reciprocal tariff” on its goods arriving into the U.S.

Last week, Trump scored the first big win in his trade war — a framework for future trade negotiations with Britain that lowers some tariffs on London and potentially opens up the UK market to more American goods.

And, on Monday, the U.S. and China to drastically roll back tariffs on each other’s goods for an initial 90-day period in a surprise breakthrough between the world’s two richest nations.

‘You’re not treating us right’

When Trump initially announced plans in February to unveil a package of reciprocal tariffs, he singled out India several times. In particular, the administration has taken issue with India’s value-added and digital services taxes as well as the growing goods trade deficit.

“They charge more tariffs than any other country,” Trump said on February 13. The comments came hours before he met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Trump also spoke about India during his Rose Garden “Liberation Day” event on April 2. “India, very, very tough,” Trump said. He also mentioned he told Modi when he met with him, “You’re not treating us right.”

The White House last month estimated that U.S. exports to India would increase by at least $5.3 billion annually if India dropped its trade barriers — but it’s unclear how the White House arrived at those figures.

The goods trade deficit the U.S. runs with India has nearly doubled since Trump’s first term, though this occurred as both countries roughly doubled the amount of imported goods from one another.

The top goods the U.S. received from India last year included pharmaceuticals; communications equipment, such as smartphones; and apparel. The top American exports to India were various oils and gases, chemicals and aerospace products and parts.

Anna Cooban, Betsy Klein and Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN