Published: February 2, 2026 5:56 pm
Author: RT
As a part of the agreement, New Delhi will stop its purchases of Russian oil, the US president has claimed
India and the US have agreed to a trade deal, President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Monday.
The countries failed to reach an agreement after several rounds of talks in 2025 and Washington imposed a 50% tariff on New Delhi, half of which was a penalty for India’s purchases of Russian oil.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had spoken with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the latter agreed to “stop buying Russian oil and to buy much more from the United States and potentially Venezuela.” He added that this would end the Ukraine conflict.
“Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi, and as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a trade deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reciprocal tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%,” Trump said. “They will likewise move forward to reduce their tariff and non-tariff barriers against the United States to zero.”
Modi confirmed that the countries had reached a deal.
Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%. Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement.
When two large economies and the…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 2, 2026
“Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%,” he said on X. “Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement.”
The Indian prime minister, however, did not comment on the claim that New Delhi would stop buying Russian oil, only saying that the South Asian nation supports Trump’s “efforts for peace.”
The US President also said Modi has agreed to “buy American at a much higher level” in addition to “over $500 billion of US energy, technology, agricultural, coal, and many other products.”
India’s insistence on leaving out dairy and agricultural products was seen as one of the main hindrances to a potential trade deal with the US. New Delhi maintained that it wanted to protect the interests of Indian farmers.
