US Commerce Secretary blames India for trade deal failure: 'Modi didn’t call Trump'

Lutnick made the remarks during an interview on the All-In podcast hosted by American venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.

“Let’s be clear — it’s his deal. He’s the closer. He does it,” Lutnick said, referring to Trump. “So I said, you’ve got to have Modi. It’s all set up — Modi has to call the President. They were uncomfortable doing it. So Modi didn’t call.”

He added that after the talks with India stalled, Washington moved ahead with agreements with other Asian nations. “That Friday passed, and in the middle of the next week we did Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and announced a whole bunch of deals,” Lutnick said.

According to the Commerce Secretary, the US had negotiated with India at a higher tariff rate assuming New Delhi would finalise the agreement first. “Now the problem is the deals came out at a higher rate, and then India claws back and says, ‘Okay, we are ready.’ I said, ready for what?” he added.

Meanwhile, Trump has reportedly approved a sweeping bipartisan sanctions bill targeting Russia’s trade partners, including India, China and Brazil, over their continued purchases of Russian oil.

The development was disclosed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a key sponsor of the legislation, who said Trump had “greenlit” the bill. The proposed law seeks to impose tariffs of up to 500 per cent on countries that knowingly continue trade in Russian oil and uranium.

A White House official also confirmed Trump’s support for the bill to the Associated Press.

Speaking earlier this week, Trump said he shared a “very good relationship” with Prime Minister Modi, but claimed the Indian leader was unhappy with him due to high tariffs imposed on India over its Russian oil imports.

“I have a very good relationship with PM Modi, but he is not happy with me as India is paying high tariffs due to its purchase of Russian oil,” Trump said while addressing the House GOP Member Retreat.

India has consistently defended its import of Russian crude, stating that energy purchases are guided by national interest and the need to keep fuel prices affordable.

New Delhi has maintained that it will continue engaging with all global partners while safeguarding its strategic and economic priorities.

Trump’s remarks came a day after he warned that the US could further raise tariffs on Indian goods if concerns over India’s Russian oil imports are not addressed.

“They wanted to make me happy, basically. PM Modi’s a very good man. He’s a good guy. He knew I was not happy,” Trump said earlier. “They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly.”