US Commerce Secretary says India missed window on trade deal because "Modi did not call Trump"

WASHINGTON : Amid continued uncertainty over the India–US trade deal, Lutnick said India “missed the train” after trade negotiators had largely set up an agreement early last year. Speaking on the All-In podcast on January 9, he revealed that while negotiators had reached an understanding, the final political sign-off never came.

“What I would do is negotiate the contracts and set the whole deal up. But it’s his deal. He does the deal,” Lutnick said, referring to Trump. “I told them, ‘You’ve got to have Modi call the president.’ They were uncomfortable doing it, so Modi didn’t call.”

Lutnick said India later sought to revive the original terms, including reciprocal tariff rates offered during early negotiations, but by then the landscape had changed. “They say, ‘But you agreed.’ And I said, ‘Then. Not now,’” he added, stressing that other countries moved faster and secured better terms.

India is currently facing the steepest US tariffs, 50 per cent, despite negotiations that began after Modi’s Washington visit in early 2024. By contrast, the United Kingdom became the first country to finalise a deal on May 8, 2025, bringing tariffs down to 10 per cent, the lowest globally. The US later signed a deal with Vietnam at 20 per cent reciprocal tariffs, followed by lower-tariff agreements with South Korea, the EU, Japan and several ASEAN nations.

Lutnick described Trump’s deal-making approach as a “staircase”, where the first mover gets the best deal.

During this period, Washington initially announced comparatively lower reciprocal tariffs for India, 27 per cent, on what Trump called “liberation day”, even as higher rates were imposed on China, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Thailand. However, differences widened after August 7, when Trump doubled tariffs on India to 50 per cent, citing concerns including India’s purchase of Russian oil.

The tariff escalation also unfolded against heightened regional tensions. As the US and UK announced their trade pact on May 8, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7–8 following a terror attack in Pahalgam by Pakistan-based group TRF. While Trump later claimed US tariffs helped broker a ceasefire, New Delhi maintained that de-escalation followed a military-to-military call on May 10.

Pressure on India could intensify further. US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said Trump has cleared a proposed Russia sanctions bill that could impose 500 per cent tariffs on goods and services from countries trading in Russian oil and uranium. It remains unclear whether existing concessions, covering electronics, pharmaceuticals, coffee, tea and services, would apply under the new bill.