\n
\n
By Shivaji Sarkar<\/strong><\/p>\n \n India is set to deepen economic ties with the U.S. through a massive $500 billion purchase deal, securing crude oil, advanced weaponry\u2014including the controversial F-35 stealth fighters\u2014and tariff adjustments to align with U.S. trade demands. This move comes as President Donald Trump, known for his tough stance on trade, agrees to the deal, making India the fourth country reportedly offered the F-35 after Israel, South Korea, and Singapore. Developed at a staggering cost of $1.17 trillion, the F-35\u2019s potential induction into India\u2019s arsenal raises concerns about its impact on the country\u2019s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.<\/p>\n India\u2019s indigenous LCA programme has already faced setbacks due to delays in U.S. engine supplies. The F-35, a single-engine fighter, may not be optimal for high-intensity operations against adversaries like China or Pakistan. Meanwhile, Russia has offered the Su-57 Felon under an accelerated Make-in-India proposal, with production potentially commencing by year-end.<\/p>\n Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s 36-hour visit to Washington, Trump signed revised global tariff regulations. At a joint press conference with Modi, he took aim at India\u2019s high tariffs, vowing to impose reciprocal import taxes. \u201cWhatever India charges, we charge them. So frankly, it no longer matters to us that much what they charge,\u201d Trump stated, underscoring his hardline approach to trade negotiations. Modi nodded to it saying, \u201cOne thing that I deeply appreciate, and I learn from President Trump, is that he keeps the national interest supreme\u201d, Modi said. \u201cLike him, I also keep the national interest of India at the top of everything else\u201d.<\/p>\n Tariff levelling is a complex process. It\u2019s just not the import duties. It also demands review of concessions and other facilities to domestic industries. It may impact Indian industrial production or it has to rejig production expenses to help America pay a low tariff, which Trump says the US charges from its importers. It demolishes barriers, opens up the markets to pouring US goods. Trump is certainly not happy with India\u2019s budgetary duty cuts from 70 per cent on Harley Davidson bikes to 30 per cent or cuts on lithium-ion batteries. Electrical vehicles are no more his priority.<\/p>\n \u201cTariff\u201d, says Richard Rossow, head of the India programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, \u201cis going to be a boxing match. India is willing to take a few hits, but there\u2019s a limit.\u201d The U.S. has a $45.6 billion trade deficit with India. Overall, the U.S. trade-weighted average tariff rate has been about 2.2 per cent, according to World Trade Organisation data, compared with India\u2019s 12 per cent, though the US says it\u2019s much more.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Modi opened up his kitty for petroleum purchases to $25 billion from the current $15 billion to help Trump push significantly increase US oil production and even exports, for which he employed the slogan \u201cDrill, baby, drill\u201d. In November, S&P Global Commodity Insights (SPGCI) said that it expected Asian oil buyers, including India, to witness significantly more opportunities to import \u201cattractively priced crude from the US\u201d as its competition with the OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) suppliers intensifies.<\/p>\n Business giant Trump categorically says, \u201cWashington hopes to become top oil and gas supplier to New Delhi\u201d. In simple terms India has to give up the choice of closer and convenient market, like West Asia. Saudi Arabia remains India\u2019s third largest petroleum supplier with 39.5 MMT.\u00a0 Iran was shut years ago under the US sanctions. It\u2019s not yet clear how it would impinge on Russian oil purchases that bolstered profits of country\u2019s two giant private refiners.<\/p>\n India has continued its ties with Russia as it carries out its war with Ukraine. India has remained a major consumer of Russian energy, while the West cut down its own consumption since the war started. \u201cThe world had this thinking that India somehow is a neutral country in this whole process,\u201d said Modi, \u201cBut this is not true. India has a side, and that side is of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n According to India\u2019s official trade data, in January-November of 2024, India imported 7.2 million tonnes of oil from the US, which accounted for 3.2 per cent of\u00a0New Delhi\u2019s overall oil imports. Russia is currently India\u2019s top oil supplier, followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the US. As for LNG, India imported 5.12 million tonnes from the US in January-November 2024, accounting for 20.2 per cent of India\u2019s overall LNG imports for the period.<\/p>\n Higher freight, while also a factor in importing light natural gas (LNG) from the US, is stated to be compensated by American gas priced at a discount and landed price would be lower than West Asian imports. There is another issue. During the recent Israel-Gaza-Houthi (Yemen)-Hezbollah (Lebanon)-war, India\u2019s DAP fertiliser imports had to detour African continent adding to its prices, longer travel and supply delays. It also hampered the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEEC) aiming to\u00a0integrate India, Europe, and the Middle-East\u00a0through UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the European Union being built by an Indian business house, which has taken over Israel\u2019s Haifa port. These problems may multiply.<\/p>\n Indian strategists are not confident with highly expensive single-engine F-35. India and the United States signed a deal to import\u00a031 Predator drones from General Atomics in October 2024. The deal is valued at around $4 billion and is intended to improve India\u2019s surveillance capabilities.<\/p>\n According to the US Congressional Research Service, New Delhi is expected to spend more than $200bn over the next decade to modernise its military. Its strategic planners want to replace Russia which till now remains the topmost arms supplier.<\/p>\n India being a very heavy energy consumer is now eyeing nuclear energy due to the low carbon source of base power generation. Except usual rhetorics not much concrete has emerged though India has been talking with Westinghouse for a reactor. None clarified whether certain issues like summonses against some Indian dignitaries were resolved or not.<\/p>\n It is likely that the F-35 offer would go through deep scrutiny. India had not approached the US for this aircraft but has come as an offer during Modi\u2019s visit. The tariff would remain an issue along with US concern for selling more petroleum crude. The prime minister\u2019s visit has gone through many US machinations. While some like the crude and gas imports may fructify for a short period. it needs to be observed how many other strategic US offers finally come out. Tariff and illegal immigration, however, would remain the most uncomfortable issues with many possible punches. \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tariff, Gas Haze Trump Talks By Shivaji Sarkar India is set to deepen economic ties with the U.S. through a massive $500 billion purchase deal, securing crude oil, advanced weaponry\u2014including the controversial F-35 stealth fighters\u2014and tariff adjustments to align with U.S. trade demands. This move comes as President Donald Trump, known for his tough stance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-259082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}