MUMBAI: India is scrambling to defend a new trade deal with the United States that critics have branded as a surrender to Washington, as countries navigate the fallout from President Donald Trump&#39;s sweeping tariffs. The deal announced this month has rattled India&#39;s powerful&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/indian-farmers-slam-us-trade-deal-demand-commerce-ministers-resignation" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">farmers</a>&#39; unions, who argue that cheap US imports would throttle local producers in a country where agriculture employs more than 700 million people. Details of the deal remain sparse, limited to a joint statement and a White House factsheet, but New Delhi says an interim pact should be finalized by the end of March. Analysts warn that other elements of the agreement could also prove volatile. &quot;In the Trumpian era, there is nothing called certainty,&quot; trade expert Abhijit Das told AFP. Even if the deal is signed in a few weeks, it would only hold until Trump &quot;decides to impose more tariffs for any perceived inconsistency,&quot; he said. The most contentious pledge is India&#39;s stated intention to buy $500 billion worth of US goods over five years. India&#39;s annual imports from the US last fiscal year were around $45 billion. Doubling annual purchases to $100 billion &quot;is unrealistic&quot;, said Ajay Srivastava of the Global Trade Research Initiative, a New Delhi-based think tank. Intention not commitmentAircraft purchases were a major component of this commitment, but even a major expansion of Boeing aircraft orders -- decisions made by private airlines -- would fall far short, he said. &quot;Even if India were to add another 200 Boeing aircraft over the next five years, at an estimated cost of $300 million per aircraft, the total value would be about $60 billion.&quot; Some economists argue that the language around purchases is non‑binding, hence it protects New Delhi if it fails to meet the goal. &quot;Framing the target as an intention, rather than a commitment, reduces the risk of the deal later breaking down,&quot; Shivaan Tandon of Capital Economics said in a note on Friday. Trump&#39;s unpredictability also continues to loom large. He recently threatened higher tariffs on South Korea over perceived delays by Seoul in implementing a trade agreement announced last July. Another flashpoint is Washington&#39;s rollback of a 25 percent duty after what it described as India&#39;s &quot;commitment&quot; to stop buying Russian oil. This promise finds no mention in the joint statement and has neither been confirmed nor denied by the Indian government. India says its energy policy is driven by national interests and that the country depends on multiple sources for crude oil imports. &#39;Oil plank&#39;New Delhi&#39;s Russian oil imports have dropped from a mid‑2025 peak of more than two million barrels a day to about 1.1 million in January. Local reports say state-owned refiners have already started purchasing Venezuelan oil for delivery in April. But it remains unclear if Russian purchases will fall to zero. The outlook hinges heavily on Mumbai-headquartered Nayara Energy, partly owned by Russia&#39;s Rosneft, which Bloomberg reported plans to keep buying around 400,000 barrels a day. This will likely remain a bone of contention, given the Trump administration&#39;s stance that it intends to monitor India&#39;s imports. &quot;New Delhi continues to avoid publicly confirming a full halt and frames energy sourcing as driven by price and availability, which underlines ongoing ambiguity over the oil plank,&quot; Darren Tay of BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, told AFP. &quot;There is tentative evidence that Indian refiners are reducing spot purchases of Russian crude, implying partial adjustment rather than a formal pledge,&quot; Tay said. The deal remains &quot;too fragile and politically contested&quot; to justify a growth forecast change for India, he added.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a meeting with Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (not pictured) in Putrajaya on February 8, 2026. (File photo by Hasnoor Hussain / AFP)

India

The deal with Washington has sparked backlash, with experts doubting India can meet ambitious US purchase targets and warning that tariff threats and uncertainty over Russian oil imports could destabilize the fragile pact.

India forced to defend US trade deal as doubts mount

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;TikTok said Thursday it had signed a joint venture deal with investors that would allow the company to maintain operations in the United States and avoid a ban threat over its Chinese ownership, US media reported. According to an internal memo cited by Bloomberg and Axios, TikTok CEO Shou Chew told employees that the social media company as well as its Chinese owner ByteDance had agreed to the new entity, with Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX as major investors. The deal largely confirms a September announcement by the White House that said the new venture would meet the requirements of a 2024 law that threatened to ban the wildly popular app in the United States if ByteDance stayed majority owner.

Entertainment

TikTok signed a joint venture with US and international investors, including Oracle, to comply with a 2024 law, maintain US operations, and avert a ban over Chinese ownership.

TikTok signs joint venture deal to end US ban threat: US media

AYLESBURY:&nbsp;President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer capped a day of royal ceremony by signing a new UK-US technology agreement, aimed at reinforcing the trans-Atlantic alliance amid geopolitical tensions. The tech pact highlighted a wave of investment announcements during Trump&rsquo;s visit, including Microsoft&rsquo;s $30 billion commitment through 2028 and Nvidia&rsquo;s &pound;500 million investment in Nscale, a London-based data center startup. OpenAI and Nvidia are also collaborating with Nscale on the UK branch of Stargate, Trump&rsquo;s AI infrastructure initiative. Nscale will also help build Britain&rsquo;s largest supercomputer, powered by over 23,000 GPUs. Starmer and Trump praised their countries&rsquo; &ldquo;unbreakable bond&rdquo; and emphasized mutual respect. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve renewed the special relationship for a new era,&rdquo; Starmer said. Trump echoed: &ldquo;The bond between our countries is like no other.&rdquo; During their talks, Starmer gifted Trump homemade jam and shortbread, and Melania received a scarf designed with Ukrainian children&rsquo;s art, a nod to her humanitarian outreach. She and Queen Camilla also visited Queen Mary&rsquo;s Dolls&rsquo; House and met children at the Royal Library. <h3>Policy flashpoints</h3>The visit wasn&rsquo;t without political friction. Trump expressed disapproval of the UK&rsquo;s expected recognition of Palestine, diverging from Starmer&rsquo;s position. Both leaders acknowledged discussing the issue privately. On immigration, Trump bluntly advised Starmer to &quot;stop it,&quot; claiming migration &ldquo;destroys countries from within.&rdquo; Domestically, he&rsquo;s faced backlash for deploying federal law enforcement in D.C. Trump also revived his push to reestablish a U.S. presence at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, citing its proximity to China as strategic. He lamented President Putin&rsquo;s refusal to pursue peace in Ukraine, despite hosting talks with both Putin and Zelenskyy. &ldquo;Putin has really let me down,&rdquo; Trump said. Starmer concurred that Russia&rsquo;s recent actions in Ukraine show &ldquo;no interest in peace.&rdquo; <h3>TikTok, Kimmel, and Cancel Culture</h3>Trump claimed a &ldquo;fee plus&rdquo; deal is nearing finalization for TikTok&#39;s U.S. operations, following national security concerns over Chinese ownership. He said conservative activist Charlie Kirk had encouraged him to use the app. Kirk&rsquo;s recent killing sparked controversy after Jimmy Kimmel suggested the suspect was a pro-Trump Republican. Trump denied this and called for Kimmel&rsquo;s firing, saying the host had &ldquo;very bad ratings.&rdquo; Obama, responding to the show&rsquo;s suspension, accused the administration of weaponizing cancel culture. House Democrats demanded FCC Chair Brendan Carr&rsquo;s resignation, calling the move &ldquo;a war on the First Amendment.&rdquo; <h3>Judicial and immigration decisions</h3>A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting unaccompanied Guatemalan migrant children, following an attempt to return them over Labor Day weekend. The court ruled the government must follow proper legal protections. In D.C., Council Chair Phil Mendelson criticized Congress for passing local laws without input from city officials, despite violent crime hitting a 30-year low. He urged Congress to fill judicial vacancies and support local prosecutors. <h3>Vaccine panel and healthcare</h3>A new federal vaccine advisory panel, under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., opened discussions on COVID-19, hepatitis B, and chickenpox shots. Critics voiced concerns about its perceived anti-vaccine leanings, but Chair Martin Kulldorff emphasized a goal of restoring public confidence. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office reported that making the expanded Affordable Care Act tax credit permanent would increase the deficit by $350 billion over a decade, but insure 3.8 million more people by 2035. Democrats aim to extend it before it expires in 2025. <h3>Israel-Gaza war</h3>A new AP-NORC poll shows growing concern among Americans about Israel&#39;s military actions in Gaza, 50% now believe it has &ldquo;gone too far,&rdquo; up from 40% in 2023. Yet, fewer Americans, especially Republicans, prioritize a ceasefire.<h3> </h3>Trump concluded his UK state visit, the first ever second state visit for a US president, with a formal farewell from King Charles III at Windsor Castle. The two shared a private moment before Trump departed for further talks with Starmer at Chequers, focusing on trade and global security.

Americas

United Kingdom

President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a new UK-US technology agreement. 

Articles tagged with "Deal"

India forced to defend US trade deal as doubts mount

TikTok signs joint venture deal to end US ban threat: US media

Trump and Starmer sign tech deal worth billions