India-U.S. trade deal didn’t happen because Modi did not call Trump: Lutnick

Howard Lutnick‘s comments came a few days after Mr. Trump said that Mr. Modi knew he was unhappy with India’s purchases of Russian oil and that Washington could raise tariffs on New Delhi “very quickly”

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the trade deal with India did not happen because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call.

Mr. Lutnick’s comments came a few days after Mr. Trump said that Mr. Modi knew he was dissatisfied with India’s purchases of Russian oil and that Washington could raise tariffs on New Delhi “very quickly”.

India-U.S.

The threat by the U.S. The President arrived at a time when the two countries were negotiating a bilateral trade agreement. So far, six rounds of negotiations have been held for that. The accord includes a framework deal to resolve the 50% tariffs on Indian goods entering America.

Mr.Lutnick, in a podcast on Thursday (January 8, 2026), said he asked Mr. Modi will call the President to close the deal. However, he said India was “uncomfortable” doing it, “so Mr. Modi didn’t call”.

The Commerce Secretary said the U.S. did trade deals with Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, but he assumed the trade deal with India was going to be done before those.

“We did Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and we announced a whole bunch of deals. So we did this whole bunch of deals because we negotiated them and assumed India was going to be done before them. I have negotiated them at a higher rate. So now the problem is that the deals came out at a higher rate. And then India calls back and says, ‘Oh, okay, we are ready. I said, ready for what.’

US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick made a big statement over why the India-US trade deal is not sealed yet, claiming it was due to PM Modi not calling Trump. Speaking at the All-In Podcast, hosted by Chamath Palihapitiya, Lutnick said, “Let’s be clear, it’s his deal. He’s the closer. He does the deal. So I said, you got to have Modi. It’s all set up. You have to have Modi…they were uneasy doing it.”

“So Modi didn’t call,” he claimed.

This statement comes after US President Donald Trump, on Thursday, approved a bill that can impose at least 500% tariffs for countries purchasing Russian oil, aiming to “punish them.“US senator Lindsey Graham said that the bill would give the US tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to encourage them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil.

India and the United States had agreed to a trade deal but just could not get it done because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call up US President Donald Trump when it was needed, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said.

“I’ll tell you a story about India,” Lutnick said on a podcast called ‘All-in’ on Thursday, detailing how Delhi did not strike when the iron was hot.

“I did the first deal with the UK, and we told the UK that they had to get it done by two Fridays from now. That the train was going to leave the station by two Fridays, because I have a lot of other countries doing things, and you know, if someone else is first, they’re first,” said Lutnick.

President Trump does deals “like a staircase,” Lutnick said.

India and the United States had agreed to a trade deal but just could not get it done because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call up US President Donald Trump when it was needed, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick has said.

“I’ll tell you a story about India,”Lutnick said on a podcast called ‘All-in’ on Thursday, detailing how Delhi did not strike when the iron was hot.

“I did the first deal with the UK, and we told the UK that they had to get it done by two Fridays from now. That the train was going to leave the station by two Fridays, because I have a lot of other countries doing things, and you know, if someone else is first, they’re first,” Lutnick said.

President Trump deals “like a staircase,” Lutnick said.

“(The) first stair gets the best deal. You can’t get the best deal after the first guy,” he said.

Lutnick said Trump does things that way “because that way it incentivizes you to come to the table.”

He recalled that after the UK deal, everyone asked Trump which country would be next and while he talked about a variety of countries, “but he names India a couple of times publicly”.

“And we were talking (with) India, and we told India, ‘you have three Fridays’. Well, they have to get it done,” he said.

Lutnick said that while he would negotiate the contracts with the countries and set the whole deal up, “but let’s be clear, it’s his (Trump) deal. He is the closer. He does the deal. So I said ‘You got to have Modi, it’s all set up, you have to have Modi call the President. They [India] were uncomfortable doing it, so Modi didn’t call.”

Lutnick said after that Friday, the US announced trade deals with Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Washington was negotiating with other countries and “assumed India was going to be done before them”.

“I have negotiated them at a higher rate. So now the problem is the deals came out at a higher rate. And then India calls back and says, ‘Oh, okay, we are ready’. I said, ‘ready for what?’ It was like three weeks later,” he said.

“I go, ‘Are you ready for the train that left the station three weeks ago?’ So what happened is they just…there’s sometimes there’s that seesaw, and people are just on the wrong side of the seesaw,” the trade secretary said.

“So what happened is India was just on the wrong side of the seesaw, and it was just they couldn’t get it done,” he said, imitating a seesaw with his hands.

“And so what happened is all these other countries kept doing deals, and they’re [India] just further in the back of the line,” he said.

Lutnick said he wanted the trade deal with India to happen “in between the UK and Vietnam because that’s what I negotiate”.

“And they remember, and I remember, and they say, ‘but you agreed’. And I said, ‘then, not now, then’. So that’s the problem. India will work it out, but there’s a lot of countries and they each have their own deep internal politics, and to get something approved by their Parliament… these are deeply complex things,” he added.

Lutnick’s remarks came a few days after Trump said that Modi knew he was unhappy with India’s purchases of Russian oil and that Washington could raise tariffs on New Delhi “very quickly.”

The threat by the US President comes at a time when the two nations are still negotiating the bilateral trade agreement.

Six rounds of negotiations have been held. There have been vague timelines mentioned, but nothing has concreted yet.

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