{"id":2696,"date":"2026-02-03T05:24:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T21:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=2696"},"modified":"2026-02-03T05:24:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T21:24:52","slug":"reciprocal-tariffs-cut-to-18-trump-signals-breakthrough-in-us-india-trade-after-call-with-pm-modi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=2696","title":{"rendered":"Reciprocal tariffs cut to 18%: Trump signals breakthrough in US-India trade after call with PM Modi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p> <div> <p lang=\"EN-GB\" paraeid=\"{bd10561b-6a4d-4070-8de9-46b2589187e7}{238}\" paraid=\"1217306427\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\">US President Donald Trump\u00a0announced a major shift in trade relations with India, claiming that Washington and New Delhi have agreed to reduce reciprocal tariffs and deepen economic cooperation following a conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.\u00a0<\/p> <p lang=\"EN-GB\" paraeid=\"{66cd6a76-6954-4a32-9ac1-b4904734c737}{2}\" paraid=\"1604017121\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\">In a post on his Truth Social platform on February 2, Trump said the United States would lower reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods from\u00a025% to 18%, while India would move to\u00a0eliminate\u00a0its tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US products. The announcement, made with immediate effect according to Trump, marks a sharp turn from months of heightened trade friction between the two countries.\u00a0<\/p> <p lang=\"EN-GB\" paraeid=\"{66cd6a76-6954-4a32-9ac1-b4904734c737}{7}\" paraid=\"166296102\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\">Calling Modi \u201cone of my greatest friends\u201d and a \u201cpowerful and respected leader,\u201d Trump said the agreement reflected mutual trust and a shared commitment to getting results.\u00a0<\/p> <article class=\"embedded-entity\"> <article class=\"media media--type-ckeditor-image media--view-mode-image\"> <\/article> <\/article> <p>Trump said discussions with the Indian Prime minister extended beyond tariffs, touching on energy, geopolitics and global security. A central element of the claimed understanding involves India reducing its purchases of Russian oil and instead buying more energy from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela. \u00a0<\/p> <p>According to Trump, the shift in India\u2019s oil sourcing is aimed at cutting off revenue streams that support Russia\u2019s war with Ukraine. He framed the move as a contribution toward ending the conflict, which he said continues to claim thousands of lives each week. \u00a0<\/p> <p>The US President also said Modi committed to a significantly expanded \u201cBuy American\u201d approach, with India expected to purchase more than $500 billion worth of US energy, technology, agricultural goods, coal and other products over time. Trump described the scale of the proposed buying as unprecedented and a win for American industry.\u00a0<\/p> <p>PM Modi in a post on X (formally twitter) wrote, &#8220;Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%. Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement. When two large economies and the world\u2019s largest democracies work together, it benefits our people and unlocks immense opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation. President Trump\u2019s leadership is vital for global peace, stability, and prosperity. India fully supports his efforts for peace.&#8221;<\/p> <div class=\"embedcode\"> <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"> <p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\" xml:lang=\"en\">Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%. Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement.<\/p> <p>When two large economies and the\u2026<\/p> <p>\u2014 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/narendramodi\/status\/2018377090840830101?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote> <\/div> <p>The announcement suggests a\u00a0possible thaw\u00a0after a period of strained trade ties, during which Washington had imposed steep duties on Indian exports and repeatedly criticised New Delhi\u2019s trade barriers and energy links with Russia.\u00a0<\/p> <p>A White House official told <em>Reuters<\/em> that the US was rescinding a punitive, 25% duty on all imports from India over its purchases of Russian oil that had stacked on top of a 25% &#8220;reciprocal&#8221; tariff rate.<\/p> <p lang=\"EN-GB\" paraeid=\"{66cd6a76-6954-4a32-9ac1-b4904734c737}{50}\" paraid=\"723768884\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\">If formalised, the tariff cuts could ease pressure on Indian exporters while improving access for US firms to one of the world\u2019s fastest-growing markets. A reorientation of India\u2019s energy imports could also have far-reaching implications for global oil markets and the broader geopolitical balance around\u00a0the Ukraine\u00a0war.\u00a0<\/p> <p lang=\"EN-GB\" paraeid=\"{66cd6a76-6954-4a32-9ac1-b4904734c737}{50}\" paraid=\"723768884\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\">US Ambassador Sergio Gor, who had shared a teaser on the two leaders interaction earlier, in a post on X (formally twitter) wrote, &#8220;As I have said many times, President Trump genuinely considers Prime Minister Modi a great friend! Thrilled by the news of the trade deal this evening. The relationship between the United States and India has LIMITLESS POTENTIAL!&#8221;.<\/p> <\/div> <p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Trump Modi trade deal; US India reciprocal tariffs; Trump Truth Social India; India US trade agreement; Trump tariffs reduced 18%; India Russian oil US energy; US India energy trade; Ukraine war oil sanctions; Buy American India; US India relations#Reciprocal #tariffs #cut #Trump #signals #breakthrough #USIndia #trade #call #Modi1770067492<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US President Donald Trump\u00a0announced a major shift in trade relations with India, claiming that Washington and New Delhi have agreed to reduce reciprocal tariffs and deepen economic cooperation following a conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.\u00a0 In a post on his Truth Social platform on February 2, Trump said the United States would lower reciprocal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-marketing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}