India's steps to win over US President Trump, avert tariffs
India's steps to win over US President Trump, avert tariffs
NEW DELHI, March 28 (Reuters) - India is one of the few nations working to lower tariffs and win over U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called the South Asian nation a "tariff king" and "tariff abuser" and has vowed to reciprocate.
Both countries have started talks towards clinching an early trade deal and resolving their standoff on tariffs.
INDIA PLANS ENERGY, DEFENCE BUYS FROM US
New Delhi has promised to step up energy purchases from the United States to $25 billion in the near future from $15 billion last year. Trump also said he was paving the way to provide F-35 stealth fighters to India.
The series of agreements emerged after talks at the White House between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India wants to increase by "billions of dollars" its purchases of U.S. defence equipment and may make Washington the number one supplier of oil and gas.
LOWER TARIFF ON BOURBON WHISKY
India has slashed tariffs on bourbon whisky to 100% from 150%, standing to benefit imports of brands such as Suntory's Jim Beam, after Trump criticised its "unfair" levies.
CUT IN BASIC CUSTOMS DUTIES
In its budget on Feb.1, India slashed basic customs duties on items such as luxury cars, solar cells and machinery, reducing its peak import tariff to 70% from 150%, and average tariffs to below 11% from 13%.
Though the effective rate on those items remained the same due to levy of a domestic tax called the Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC), but the government has vowed to remove that too as trade talks progress.
STARLINK IN INDIA
Elon Musk's Starlink partnered with Indian telecom giants Reliance and Airtel and is close to getting final regulatory approvals from the Indian government for satellite broadband service.
India's approval is key as it would pave the road into more emerging markets and boost the company's ambitions to add a million subscribers every year.
