Buying military gear from Russia and aligning with the BRICS to reduce dollar dependence are decisions that may have ticked the US off, said the country’s Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick during his keynote address at the eighth addition of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Leadership Summit on Monday.
“The Indian economy is extraordinary, your human capital capacity is amazing, your growth rate is amazing. But, you know, there were certain things that the Indian government did that generally rubbed the United States the wrong way…For instance, you generally buy your military gear from Russia. That’s a way to kind of get…under the skin of America, if you go to buy your armaments from Russia. So, I think India is starting to move towards buying the military equipment from the United States, which then goes a long way,” he said.
In the same breath, however, Lutnick stressed that US President Donald Trump deeply admires India and the two countries are going to have a “great relationship together.”
People can expect a trade deal announcement in the “not too distant future”, he added. “So the idea is when they put the right person and India put the right person on the other side of the table, and we’ve managed, I think, to be in a very, very good place. And you should expect a deal between the US and India in the not-too-distant future because I think we found a place that really works for both countries,” Lutnick said.
Citing the example of India being a part of BRICS group (comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Lutnick chided India for being a bad friend. “That’s not really the way to make friends and influence people in America,” he said.
The high tariffs by India, however, may be an impediment that Trump “calls out straight away”, said Lutnick.
“Now the President is willing to call out things straight away, meaning India is very protectionist with tariffs. They have 100% tariff on this, and 100% tariff on that. And if you ask them why, the answer is, ‘I don't know why. It just is’.”
He noted that India is trying hard to be one of the “earlier countries” that get a better deal. “But these kind of deals used to take two or three years, and we’re trying to get them done in a month, which is, just not the ordinary DNA of trading relationships between countries.”
Hoping to achieve market access, Lutnick said the US hoped to have the trade deficit reduced. Their country understood that India would want special access to the American marketplace in return, he added.
Finding the middle ground might by key to negotiating well, Lutnick remarked, noting it is “unusual” that President Trump is the only person in the administration elected by the full United States of America and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is elected by the people in India.
The two leaders’ relationship is “very strong and very positive”, Lutnick said starting from this “positive place” makes it easy for him to handle trade negotiations.
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