Modi says US and India target $500bn bilateral trade by 2030

Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi said the US and India had set a target of doubling their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 and will work on concluding a mutually beneficial trade agreement very soon.

Modi made the comment at a press conference after a meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington.

Modi said the US and India would work together on artificial intelligence and semiconductors to establish strong supply chains for strategic minerals.

“We have … set ourselves the target of more than doubling our bilateral trade to attain $500 billion by 2030. Our teams will work on concluding very soon, a mutually beneficial trade agreement,” Modi said.

A Trump administration official told reporters earlier that US and Indian officials were also moving forward with talks on a bilateral trade deal. They hoped to have an agreement in place this year.

Trump told the news conference India had announced a reduction of tariffs on US goods and said he and Modi would begin talks on disparities in trade to sign an agreement.

He said the United States was entitled to a level playing field, and the US trade deficit with India could be made up with the sale of oil and gas.

Trump said he had discussed India’s high tariffs during his first term but could not extract any concessions.

He said that under the new reciprocal tariffs system he announced on Thursday, the US would simply charge the same tariff rates that India charged.

“It’s tough to sell into India because they have trade barriers, very strong tariffs,” he said.

“We are, right now, a reciprocal nation … We’re going to have whatever India charges, we’re charging them. Whatever another country charges, we’re charging them. So it’s called reciprocal, which I think is a very fair way.”