(NewsNation) — India Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting with Donald Trump at the White House on the same day the president signed a memorandum proposing reciprocal tariffs.
Modi and Trump have had a good relationship and have been allies to a certain extent. However, India is a country that the United States operates at a trade deficit with. That issue, as well as tariffs, could come up during their discussions Thursday.
Before speaking with Trump, Modi met separately with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a Trump administration official, and national security adviser Mike Waltz.
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Trump has already imposed tariffs on China and threatened them against Canada and Mexico. On Monday, he expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum initially imposed during his first term.
The president has repeatedly dubbed India a “tariff king.” In response, New Delhi has shown a willingness to buy more American oil while lowering its own tariffs on U.S. goods, including on some Harley-Davidson motorcycles, from 50% to 40%. India also dropped retaliatory tariffs on United States almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts in 2023.
According to the Associated Press, the Indo-U.S. goods and services trade totaled around $190.1 billion in 2023. U.S. exports to India were worth nearly $70 billion and imports $120 billion.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
