DEALS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

GULF COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN LOOKING TO REVAMP THEIR TIES WITH THE US, MOVING AWAY FROM A TRANSACTIONAL OIL-FOR-SECURITY UNDERSTANDING TO STRONGER PARTNERSHIPS

- Shivaji Sarkar

President Donald Trump's recent Middle East trip has messages for India. He on 16 May announced that India has offered a trade deal that proposed almost “no tariffs” on US goods, as the South Asian nation seeks to avert higher import and export costs.

Trump on 14 February had issued a blunt warning to BRICS nations, threatening a 100% tariff on all imports into the US if they proceed with launching a common currency. He had said this hours before a scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dismissing the economic bloc’s relevance, declaring, “BRICS is dead.” BRICS is still kicking, but definitely Trump's aggression for a unipolar dollarized world has thawed it a bit as Russia listens to him for ceasefire with Ukraine and the US-China trade conflict settles for lower tariff.

His agreements with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar add further teeth to the anti-BRICS mission. Trump had said, “I don't care, but BRICS was put there for a bad purpose and most of those people don't want it. They don't even want to talk about it now. They're afraid to talk about it because I told them if they want to play games with the dollar, then they're going to be hit with a 100% tariff.”

New Delhi is looking to clinch a trade deal with the US within the 90-day pause announced by Trump on 9 April, on so called reciprocal tariffs for major trading partners. On 8 May, the White House secured a trade agreement with the UK, two days after India inked a similar pact with the latter.