President Trump’s loyal ally, Sergio Gor, officially took office as the United States Ambassador to India on Monday, November 10th. During Gor’s inauguration ceremony, Trump stated that the U.S. is close to reaching a fair trade agreement with India and that he will lower the high tariffs on India.
Trump also mentioned that Gor’s primary tasks as Ambassador to India include promoting Indian investments in key U.S. industries, increasing U.S. energy exports, and expanding security cooperation between the two countries.
“I look forward to Sergio Gor strengthening one of our most important relationships, which is our strategic partnership with India,” he said.
“We are working towards an agreement with India, one that is different from the past,” Trump said. “We are reaching a fair deal, a truly fair trade agreement.”
“I believe we are very close to reaching an agreement. It’s beneficial for everyone, right?” he said. “Due to Russian oil imports, the tariffs imposed on India by the U.S. have been high, but they have significantly reduced their Russian oil imports now, so we will lower the tariffs,” Trump said.
The President also touched on tariff issues. He said that currently, due to India importing Russian oil, the U.S. has imposed very high tariffs on India, but they have now significantly reduced their imports of Russian oil, “so we will lower the tariffs.”
In August, Trump issued an executive order announcing an additional 25% tariff increase on imports from India, raising the U.S. tariffs on India to 50%. Trump stated at the time that the reason for the tariff increase was India’s importation of Russian oil.
Gor was confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to India by the Senate on October 7th. A few days later, he arrived in New Delhi and met with Indian Prime Minister Modi to discuss defense, trade, technology, and other issues. “We also discussed the importance of critical minerals to both of our countries,” Gor said in a statement.
According to CNBC, Alexandra Hermann of Oxford Economics stated that Gor represents the White House’s push for faster and more direct communication with India, bypassing traditional diplomatic procedures.
Hermann added that this indicates the U.S. hopes to quickly reach a trade agreement. Appointing a “political ambassador” instead of a “traditional” diplomat may indeed expedite the process, but it also increases risks: if public opinion worsens on either side, this “political ambassador” lacks the buffering protection of a traditional diplomat, and U.S.-India relations could become more unstable.
So far, India’s cooperation with Russia is limited compared to the U.S. Hermann stated that the U.S. accounts for 18% of India’s exports, while Russia only accounts for 1%.