Peter Navarro: India Coming to the Negotiating Table with the US

Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has asserted that India is engaging in fresh negotiations with the United States. His comments, made during an interview with CNBC, come ahead of the India–US trade talks scheduled for Tuesday and shortly after President Donald Trump reaffirmed that discussions were underway to address trade barriers between the two countries.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent response to President Trump on social media, Navarro noted, “India is coming to the table. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent out a very conciliatory, constructive tweet, and President Trump responded to that. We’ll see how this works.” He added that negotiations were ongoing and that both sides were working to address tariff and non-tariff issues.

Navarro, who has previously described India as “the Maharaja of tariffs,” reiterated that the country maintains the highest tariff levels among major economies. “As a practical matter, India has very high tariffs and non-tariff barriers. We are addressing these challenges, just as we are with other nations that employ similar practices,” he remarked.

Last week, President Trump posted on social media that he was looking forward to further discussions with Prime Minister Modi, expressing confidence in reaching a mutually beneficial outcome. “I feel certain there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our great countries,” Trump wrote.

Responding to this, Prime Minister Modi described the United States as a “close friend” and a “natural partner,” emphasizing that both nations were working to conclude trade negotiations at the earliest opportunity.

However, Navarro later issued a series of critical posts on X, stating, “The US doesn’t need unfair trade with India. But India desperately needs access to US markets and schools and intends to continue taking US jobs.”

According to India’s chief negotiator Rajesh Agarwal, the talks will take place in New Delhi, with Brendan Lynch, the US Trade Representative for South Asia, leading the American delegation. Agarwal noted that the discussions form part of the broader framework of bilateral trade negotiations but declined to provide further details.

Tensions have been heightened by Washington’s decision last month to impose a punitive 25 per cent levy on Indian goods effective August 27, doubling overall tariffs to 50 per cent. The measure, introduced as part of US efforts to increase pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, was strongly criticized by New Delhi as “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.”