US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and new US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, applaud President Donald Trump, at center, with others in the Oval Office of the White House during the swearing-in ceremony for Gor, in Washington. (AP Photo) US President Donald Trump on Monday said that America was getting close to a trade deal with India which would lead to an expansion of economic and security ties between Washington and New Delhi, boost energy exports of the United States and promote investments in key sectors in the US, Reuters reported.
During the swearing-in ceremony of his envoy Sergio Gor as the new ambassador to India, Trump told reporters at the Oval Office, “We’re getting a fair deal, just a fair trade deal.” “We’re making a deal with India, a much different deal than we had in the past,” the US president said.
Trump said that the relationship of US with India is “one of our country’s most important international relationships” and that Sergio Gor would play a key role in strengthening that relationship. “It’s a big deal,” the US president said. Last week, Trump announced his plans to travel to India soon.
During his address on Monday, Trump added, “India is home to one of the world’s oldest civilisations, the largest country in the world, and it’s got over 1.5 billion people. We have a fantastic relationship with Prime Minister Modi, and Sergio has already enhanced that by becoming friendly with him.”
Trump called India the “fastest growing middle class” and said that it made New Delhi an important strategic partner to Washington for both economic and strategic reasons in the Indo-Pacific region.
#WATCH | "Well, right now, the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil, and they've stopped doing the Russian oil. It's been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we're going to be bringing the tariffs down…At some point, we're going to be bringing them down…"… pic.twitter.com/oGpHQXJLhE
— ANI (@ANI) November 10, 2025
Responding to a question by a reporter regarding higher tariffs imposed on India as a penalty for buying Russian oil, Trump claimed PM Narendra Modi has pledged to bring down purchases of crude from Russia.
The US president added, “Well, right now, the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil, and they’ve stopped doing the Russian oil. It’s been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down…At some point, we’re going to be bringing them down.”
Trade relations between the two countries soured earlier this year when the US president imposed a 50% tariff on Indian goods, including a 25% penalty being levied for New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
Trump recently has claimed that PM Modi assured him that India would wind down purchases of Russian oil, however, no such confirmation was relayed by the Ministry of External Affairs or any other department in the government of India.
(with inputs from Reuters)