US pushes adamant India for major trade deal

By Vakkas Dogantekin

ANKARA (AA) - A trade adviser for U.S. President Donald Trump urged India to lower tariffs and make nice as meetings in Washington to resolve the impasse takes place.

Peter Navarro, director of the office of trade and manufacturing policy said India "literally" has "the highest tariffs in the world of any large country."

He cited a $25.2 billion trade deficit with India and told Fox Business late Wednesday the U.S. has to "get India to belly up to that bar and lower tariffs and make nice with trade."

"I like to joke, India is the maharajah of tariffs,” Navarro said, using the Hindi word that literally means "king of kings" to criticize the Asian nation that stands as the ninth-largest trading partner of the U.S.

Trade with India accounts for $143 billion in goods and services transactions.

Navarro's remarks on India were interpreted as a desire by the Trump administration to wrap up another trade agreement. This time with India, following agreements with China, Mexico, Canada, South Korea and Japan, which account for more than half of all U.S. trade.

Navarro went on to say that Trump is a "big fan of the Reciprocal Trade Act" who aims to match tariffs from a trading partner.

"Ninety percent of the time, India charges us higher tariffs than we charge them," Navarro said.

The White House adviser also praised the economic track record of the Trump administration, saying the president has "built the strongest economy in modern history" based on stock market indicators.

India and the U.S. has brushed off domestic issues Wednesday while maintaining that bonds would endure and strengthen on a range of bilateral issues.

The 2+2 national security-focused meetings involved American and Indian defense and foreign ministers.