US President Donald Trump is actively engaged in talks with the representatives of India, Israel, and Vietnam as part of efforts to negotiate trade deals.
The talks are taking place ahead of a looming deadline, which would result in new tariffs on imports from these nations if no agreement is reached.
Donald Trump, on his social media platform Truth Social, said that the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam said that the country wants to cut their tariffs down to zero if they are able to make an agreement with the US.
Trump is negotiating bilateral trade agreements that might prevent the implementation of proposed tariffs.
Trump's negotiations with a small group of nations are the start of what is believed to be a wider wave of trade negotiations. Although these countries account for only a fraction of those targeted by his new tariff policy.
China and Canada have already announced they will retaliate with additional tariffs.
"The reciprocal tariffs will go into effect April 9 at 12:01 am ET," citing a senior White House official.
Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons, posted on social media, "I wouldn’t want to be the last country to try to negotiate with @realdonaldtrump," he wrote on X. "The first to negotiate will win — the last will absolutely lose. I have seen this movie my entire life."
Meanwhile, Trump himself appeared to confirm that he is open to dialogue with trading partners.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday, he said, “Every country has called us. That’s the beauty of what we do, we put ourselves in the driver’s seat. As long as they are giving us something that’s good."
"For instance, with TikTok as an example, we have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’ The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have,” he added.
On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on India, Vietnam, and Israel as part of his "reciprocal trade" policy.
Starting April 9, India will face a 26% tariff on its exports to the US, Vietnam will be hit with a 46% tariff, and Israel with 17%.
Source: India Today