New Delhi/Doha: In a major development from Doha on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that India has offered a trade deal to the United States which would see "basically zero tariffs" on a broad range of American goods.

Trump’s latest comments follow his earlier remarks on April 30, when he said that talks with India on tariff issues were “going great” and expressed confidence in reaching a final deal soon.

It may be said here that Washington and New Delhi have been engaged in a flurry of ongoing high-level trade negotiations to resolve tariff and market access issues.

The two countries began trade talks following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in February. Both sides aim to seal the first phase of the deal by fall, with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal expected to visit the US between May 17 and 20 to push the negotiations forward.

Trump's comments triggered an instant rally back home. India’s benchmark equity indices surged nearly 1.5% to hit seven-month highs on hopes of a breakthrough in trade ties.

According to reports, India had proposed to reduce its average tariff differential with the US from around 13% to under 4%—a 9-percentage-point drops.

This would be among the most comprehensive moves by India to align its trade policies with major global partners.

Under the proposed deal, India has offered to bring duties down to zero on 60% of tariff lines in the first phase. Reports further said that the PM Modi-led government had offered preferential access to nearly 90% of goods imported from the US, according to two Indian officials involved in the talks. In exchange, India is seeking a full exemption from both existing and potential future US tariff hikes—something that has not been fully granted even in Washington’s recent agreement with the United Kingdom.

On April 10, the United States temporarily suspended additional tariffs on Indian exports for a 90-day period, effective until July 9. The pause was seen as a goodwill gesture and an effort to build momentum in trade discussions.

This development followed a broader tariff overhaul on April 2, when the US imposed universal duties on imports from nearly 60 countries in a bid to reduce the American trade deficit and strengthen domestic production.

As part of that move, Indian exports were slapped with an additional 26% duty—covering sectors ranging from seafood to industrial metals like steel.

Adding fuel to the fire, Trump also took a jab at Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook, saying he discouraged the company from expanding manufacturing in India. "I had a little problem with Tim Cook on Wednesday. I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion but now I hear you are building all over India. I don’t want you building in India," Trump said.