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Modi, who began a two-nation visit to France and the US on Monday, is set to meet Trump on February 13, with both sides looking to strengthen bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said last week that the Indian side expects “a more intense and continuing conversation” with the US on matters including trade, investment, technology, defence, energy, space and geopolitical strategies.
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Illegal immigration is expected to be another significant area of discussion. The US last week sent 104 illegal Indian immigrants back to the country, and similar action is likely against nearly 600 others on the US’s final “removal” list, Indian officials said.
Ahead of Modi’s visit, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced measures in the budget for 2025-26 that could benefit US majors such as Harley-Davidson, Tesla and Apple, signalling India’s commitment to enhancing bilateral trade relations.
Reuters, citing unnamed government officials, reported on Monday that India is preparing additional tariff cuts ahead of the Modi-Trump meeting that can boost US exports to India. Tariff cuts are being planned in at least a dozen sectors, including electronics, medical and surgical equipment, and chemicals, to boost US exports in line with India’s domestic production plans, the report said.
A top White House official on Monday spoke over the tariff issue. The President’s Economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Modi had a lot to discuss with Trump when the two leaders meet soon.
Trump believed the U.S. should impose reciprocal tariffs that are at least equal to those imposed by other countries, Hassett said in an interview with CNBC, adding, “If they go down, we’ll go down.”
“Almost every trading partner has much higher tariffs than we do,” he said, noting that Canada, Mexico and Britain had tariffs in the same range as the U.S.
Officials did not respond to direct queries on any such proposals.
A senior official who asked not to be named pointed to how some of the issues, such as trade and immigration, are linked. “The Prime Minister and the US President don’t meet to discuss tariffs of individual items. Mexico and Canada are facing high tariffs because of illegal migration. India is against illegal migration and on this matter, the US and India are on the same page,” this person said.
The Indian side believes the US is acting against China because of that country’s opaque and unfair trade practices, but this is not the case with India. The two countries are aligned on many strategic issues and are willing to discuss all matters of mutual interest, the official said.
Mukesh Aghi, president of the US India Strategic Partnership Forum, told reporters that market access, a level playing field for US companies and expanding bilateral trade are set to be the focus of discussions between the two leaders. The trade forum is working with both sides on the visit.
“Additionally, there will be discussions around Starlink and Tesla. A one-on-one meeting between Elon Musk and Modi is yet to be slotted but they will meet at the White House,” said Aghi. “The US expects India to buy more weapons.”
Aghi said the two leaders may discuss a limited trade deal, but Trump had ruled it out in his first term. “He prefers a bigger and more comprehensive arrangement,” he said. “I think the US will work with India and a blend of Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ will emerge. For instance, the US is concentrating on making semiconductors below 7 nm and India is concentrating on chips over 15 nm, generating synergy between the two countries.”
