By Divya Patil

       US President Donald Trump said India has signaled its readiness to make deeper tariff cuts, after he ramped up pressure on the country to lower trade barriers that he has said unfairly penalize American businesses.

       “They’ve agreed — by the way, they want to cut their tariffs way down now,” Trump said, while delivering remarks on the US economy late on Friday. India charges “massive tariffs” that mean the US does “very little business inside,” he said.

       India’s commerce ministry didn’t immediately respond to the request for a comment on the remarks outside of regular business hours.

       Preserving India’s access to the US market is a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he seeks to shield his country from reciprocal duties Trump has indicated will take effect next month.

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       Trade between the two countries grew to $127 billion in 2023, making the US India’s largest trading partner and putting pressure on New Delhi to strike a deal. The two leaders have agreed to boost trade to $500 billion by 2030.

       Modi’s government has already made numerous concessions to the Trump administration in recent weeks in a bid to smooth over relations. Among the efforts was a wide-ranging reduction in tariffs on products including high-end motorcycles and whiskey, and pledges to buy more US energy and weapons.

       Indian officials have also discussed reducing duties on cars, some agricultural products, chemicals, critical pharmaceuticals, as well as certain medical devices and electronics, Bloomberg News reported last month.

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