US President’s Social Media Post: US-India Trade Deal, Tariffs On Indian Products Lowered To 18%.

Washington DC; February 2026: Vide a Social Media Post yesterday – 02nd February 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a trade deal with India that slashes U.S. tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50% in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers. As per the post of President Trump, the development was following a call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, noting that India would now buy oil from the U.S. and potentially Venezuela.

Prime Minister Modi have also committed that India would “BUY AMERICAN at a much higher level”, in addition to buying more than $500 billion worth of U.S. energy, including coal, along with technology, agricultural and other products, President Trump further added. “They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non-Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO”, Trump said of India.

As per White House official sources the U.S. was rescinding a punitive 25% duty on all imports from India over its purchases of Russian oil that had stacked on top of a 25% “reciprocal” tariff rate.

Until Trump returned to office and raised U.S. tariff rates to double-digit levels last year, India had some of the world’s highest tariffs, with a simple applied rate of 15.6% and an effective applied tariff of 8.2%, according to World Trade Organization data.

Maverick News affirms the following about the hyped trade deal as posted by Donald Trump:

• Trump’s Truth Social message provided few details, including on the start date for the lower tariff rates, the deadline for India to end Russian oil purchases, trade barrier reductions and which U.S. products India had committed to purchasing.

• As of late Monday afternoon, the White House had not issued a presidential proclamation nor a Federal Register notice required to make the changes official.

• A White House spokesperson offered no further details, while India’s commerce and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests sent after working hours. Russia’s embassy in Washington also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Previous trade deals with other major Asian trading partners including Japan and South Korea have included commitments to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into U.S. industries, but the India announcement did not mention any specific investments.

Although the much talked about deal brings India “broadly in line with its Asian peers on tariff rates” of 15% to 19%, it would eliminate a disproportionate drag on India’s exports and its rupee currency.

Indian markets had been battered since the tariffs were levied by Washington, making it the worst-performing market among emerging nations in 2025, with record outflows of foreign investors.

Moreover, there are certain noteworthy aspects which are pertinent to the posted announcement:

• U.S. business groups reacted with caution and criticism. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has long advocated a market-opening trade deal with India, called Trump’s announcement progress towards that goal.

• A coalition of more than 800 small businesses called “We Pay the Tariffs” urged Americans not to celebrate the deal, which it called a “600% tax increase on American businesses compared to 2024”. The group noted that U.S. tariffs on Indian imports were about 2% to 3% at that time but would now be 18% and could go higher if India does not fully wean itself off Russian oil.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked the US President addressing him “My Dear Friend President”, and has reiterated that, “Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%. Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement”, Modi said in a social media post on X.

Earlier, on Saturday (31st January 2026) Trump teased a potential deal for India to buy Venezuelan oil after the U.S. seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid in early January. The deal followed months of tense trade negotiations between the world’s two largest democracies. Last August, Trump had doubled duties on imports from India to 50% to pressure New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil, and earlier this month said the rate could rise again if it did not curb its purchases.

Purchases of Venezuelan oil would help replace some of the Russian oil bought by India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer.

India relies heavily on oil imports, covering around 90% of its needs, and importing cheaper Russian oil has helped lower its import costs since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022 and Western nations enacted sanctions on its energy exports. Recently India has begun to slow its purchases from Russia. In January, they were around 1.2 million barrels per day, and are projected to decline to about 1 million bpd in February and 800,000 bpd in March.

Finally, yesterday hours before posting on Social Media, President Trump have announced the creation of a critical mineral reserve and briefly spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on topics including Iran and the U.S. government funding bill.

He did not mention his trade deal with India.

Team Maverick.