NEW DELHI — India has agreed to buy petroleum, defense goods, and aircraft from the US, while partly opening up its highly guarded agriculture sector under a trade deal, according to a government official, as the two sides reconcile after months of tensions.

President Donald J. Trump announced a trade deal with India on Monday that slashes US tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50% in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.

Mr. Trump said India agreed to buy more American goods with purchases rising to as much as $500 billion including energy, coal, technology, agricultural and other products.

The Indian government official, who did not want to be named, said India has agreed to buy US goods including telecom and pharmaceuticals and offered market access for some agricultural products, as part of New Delhi’s commitments under the deal.

India recently offered select market access for agricultural products to the European Union under a trade deal.

The Asian nation has also lowered tariffs on imported cars to address Washington’s immediate US demands to conclude the first tranche of the deal, the official added.

India’s trade ministry did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment.

India’s exports to the US rose 15.88% year on year to $85.5 billion in January-November, while imports stood at $46.08 billion, Indian government data showed.

“The commitment to buy US products covers sectors like pharmaceuticals, telecom, defense, petroleum and aircraft. It will be done over the years,” the official told Reuters.

The official said a more comprehensive pact with the US will be negotiated over the coming months.

DEAL LIFTS SENTIMENT
The announcement of a trade deal between India and the United States has reduced a great deal of global uncertainty, India’s economic affairs secretary, Anuradha Thakur, said at an event in New Delhi on Tuesday.

It also lifted investor sentiment. India’s benchmark stock index, the Nifty, was up nearly 3% and the rupee climbed over 1% to 90.40 per dollar in early trading.

The 18% tariff offered to India is lower than its Asian peers and comes right in time as exporters are still negotiating annual contracts with their US customers, the official said.

Among Asian nations, US tariffs on goods from Indonesia stand at 19% while the rate for Vietnam and Bangladesh stands at 20%.

“Lower tariffs will not only improve price competitiveness but also help Indian exporters integrate more deeply into US supply chains,” said SC Ralhan, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations.

Reduction in US tariffs on most Indian goods will reinvigorate India’s goods exports to the US, Moody’s Ratings said in a statement on Tuesday. — Reuters

TAIPEI — Taiwan must look to fellow democracies, not China, for trade and economic cooperation, President Lai Ching-te said on Tuesday, as his government mapped out how the island plans to work with the United States on areas like AI and critical minerals.

Senior Taiwanese and US officials last week discussed cooperation in artificial intelligence, tech and drones at a high-level forum launched during the first Trump administration, with the US State Department praising Taipei as a “vital partner.”

The two sides signed statements on cooperation on economic security and on the Pax Silica Declaration – a US-led initiative aimed at securing AI and semiconductor supply chains amid intense competition from Beijing, Washington’s main strategic rival and which claims Taiwan as its own territory.

Speaking at a news conference at the presidential office about the US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue, Mr. Lai lauded the outcome of those talks.

“Taiwan is on the right economic path and is striding confidently onto the world stage. Taiwan has both the capability and the confidence to work with its democratic partners to lead the next generation of prosperity,” he said.

Mr. Lai was speaking as the deputy chairman of Taiwan’s main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), Hsiao Hsu-tsen, was in Beijing for a think-tank exchange with China’s Communist Party on ostensibly non-political issues like AI and tourism.

Mr. Lai said Taiwan’s opposition “had their own positions”, and pointed to the differences of Taiwan’s slower economic growth under the previous KMT government, which signed a landmark trade deal with China, or the much faster growth since the Democratic Progressive Party took office in 2016.

“Do we want to continue collaborating with the US, Japan, Europe and other allied nations, or again lock ourselves into China?” he added.

BEIJING MEETING
Mr. Hsiao told the opening of the forum in Beijing that “peaceful development” serves the interests of both sides, according to a read out of his remarks provided by the party.

“We should cooperate across the Taiwan Strait to earn money from the world, rather than oppose each other across the strait and let foreign countries reap the benefits, exploiting Taiwan and hollowing it out,” he said.

China refuses to speak to Mr. Lai, calling him a “separatist”. He says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Lai reiterated an offer to speak to Beijing, based on parity and equality.

Taiwan’s opposition has also blocked Mr.  Lai’s $40-billion special defense budget, instead pushing their own proposal that provides funding only for certain US arms, not the full package Mr.  Lai wants.

On Monday, US Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Armed Services Committee and one of the strongest advocates for Taiwan in the US Congress, wrote on X that he was “disappointed” to see Taiwan’s opposition parties slash Mr. Lai’s defense budget.

“The original proposal funded urgently needed weapons systems. Taiwan’s parliament should reconsider – especially with rising Chinese threats,” added Mr. Wicker, who met Mr. Lai in Taipei last August.

In response, the KMT said it had always supported the defense budget, and regretted Mr. Wicker’s remarks “made without sufficient information”.

It asked, “Would the US Congress ever pass a blank-cheque budget for eight years with no specifics?” renewing previous criticism of the government that the party could not blindly pass spending without having more details. — Reuters

A GROUP of civil rights organizations on Monday sued the State Department over its recent pause on the processing of immigrant visas for citizens from 75 countries, arguing the policy “eviscerate[d] decades of settled immigration law.”

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan asked a judge to issue a court order blocking the policy, which took effect on Jan. 21.

The complaint asserted that the State Department’s policy is “based on an unsupported and demonstrably false claim that nationals of the covered countries migrate to the United States to improperly rely on cash welfare and are likely to become ‘public charges.’”

“A visa is a privilege not a right,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement, adding that the visa policy prevents billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse.

“The department is pausing issuance to evaluate and enhance screening and vetting procedures — but we will never stop fighting for American citizens first,” Mr. Pigott said.

The lawsuit was brought by the National Immigration Law Center and other groups on behalf of a wide range of plaintiffs, including US citizens who say they have been separated from family members because of the policy.

Another plaintiff is an endocrinologist from Colombia who was approved for an employment-based visa but cannot receive it because Colombia is one of the countries subject to the policy.

The pause has impacted applicants from Latin American countries including Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay, Balkan countries such as Bosnia and Albania, South Asian countries Pakistan and Bangladesh, and those from many nations in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

The State Department policy does not impact US visitor visas, which have been in the spotlight given the United States is hosting the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

A State Department cable outlining the move and seen by Reuters said the department was undergoing a “full review” of all policies, regulations and guidance to ensure “the highest level of screening and vetting” for all US visa applicants.

The cable, sent to US missions, said applicants from the 75 impacted countries “are at a high risk for becoming a public charge and recourse to local, state and federal government resources in the United States.” — Reuters