Washington DC [US], July 16 (HBTV): US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States is working on a deal that would give it access to Indian markets. He also announced a new trade deal with Indonesia, under which Indonesian exports will face a reduced tariff rate of 19 per cent.

Announcing progress on the India front, Trump stated, ‘We’re going to have access into India. And you have to understand, we had no access into any of these countries. Our people couldn’t go in. And now we’re getting access because of what we’re doing with the tariffs.’

Trump said the United States has reached a trade agreement with Indonesia after speaking with the country’s President Joko Widodo, also known as Prabowo Subianto, according to CNN.

Hours after announcing the agreement on Truth Social, Trump told reporters that the deal calls for Indonesia not to charge any tariffs on American exports, while the US will impose a 19 per cent tariff on Indonesian exports.

‘So we made a deal with Indonesia. I spoke to their really great president, very popular, very strong, and smart. And we made the deal. We have full access to Indonesia... As you know, Indonesia is very strong in copper. But we have full access to everything. We will pay no tariffs,’ he said.

‘So they are giving us access into Indonesia, which we never had. That's probably the biggest part of the deal. And the other part is that they are going to pay 19 per cent, and we are going to pay nothing. I think it's a good deal for both parties. But we will have full access into Indonesia. And we have a couple of those deals that are going to be announced,’ the US President added.

Further, Trump emphasised that ‘Indonesia has some great products, and they also have some very valuable earths and various other materials, and they're known for its very high-quality copper, which the US will be using.’

In a subsequent post on Truth Social, he said the agreement was ‘finalised.’ However, as of Tuesday afternoon, the Indonesian government had yet to make any similar announcements.

According to CNN, Indonesia shipped USD 20 million worth of copper to the US last year, according to US Commerce Department data. That figure is far behind top suppliers Chile and Canada, which sent USD 6 billion and USD 4 billion worth of the metal to the US, respectively.

(ANI)