Trump says India deal soon, flags Brics again

The US and India are close to reaching a trade deal, President Donald Trump said on Monday, as his administration held off on including India among 14 countries that were sent ultimatum letters, threatening new tariffs from August 1.

- Shashank Mattoo

Officials in New Delhi have said that they are waiting on word from Washington, after trade talks concluded last week with some sticking points appearing to remain unresolved.

“We've made a deal with the United Kingdom, we've made a deal with China, we're close to making a deal with India,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, Trump appeared to temper some of the optimism by a separate threat when he said India would face a 10% tariff as a member of the BRICS economic bloc, which he accused of trying to undermine the US dollar.

“They [India] will certainly have to pay 10% if they are in Brics because Brics was set up to hurt us, to degenerate our dollar,” Trump told reporters when asked if India would be subject to his announced Brics tariffs. “The Dollar is king. We are going to keep it that way. If people want to challenge it, they can. But they will have to pay a big price. I don’t think any of them are going to pay that price.”