U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new trade deal with India that will see the U.S. lower reciprocal tariffs on goods from the country from 25 percent to 18 percent and potentially remove a separate 25 percent tariff related to India’s imports of Russian oil.
In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump said he spoke with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 February and struck a deal which will see India purchase USD 500 billion (EUR 424 billion) in U.S. energy, technology, agriculture, coal, and other products. In return, Trump said the reciprocal tariff lodged against India – which was set at 25 percent as of 1 August – will be reduced to 18 percent.
“They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said he also spoke with Modi about ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, which kicked off with Russia’s invasion in 2022.
“He [Modi] agreed to stop buying Rusisan Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela,” Trump wrote. “This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!”
Trump had increased tariffs on India by an additional 25 percent, starting on 27 August 2025, in an order titled “Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of the Russian Federation.” In that order, the administration claimed India’s importation of Russian oil posed a threat and required the stacking tariffs, which put India at an effective tariff rate of 50 percent.
Trump did not explicitly state whether that additional 25 percent tariff would be removed, and the White House has not yet released any official text for an executive order on removing the tariff.
India had also been facing a threatened 25 percent tariff related to the country’s imports of Venezuelan oil; however, since that initial tariff threat, the U.S. has captured Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro.
India is a top source of shrimp for the U.S., and high 50 percent tariffs implemented by Trump shifted trade patterns and caused its shrimp exports to the U.S. to drop soon after implementation. However, data shows India continued to succeed in exporting its farmed shrimp as the country pivoted to new markets.
Trump’s announcement also comes on the heels of what the E.U. and India described as the “mother of all” free trade deals, which eliminated or reduced tariffs on 96.6 percent of E.U. goods sent to India and on 99.5 percent of Indian goods sent to the E.U.
