“Saving the dollar: Why Trump’s India deal matters more to the US”, First Post, February 06, 2026
“The Indian Opposition is cacophonic about the trade deal and cut in tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking if it gives away too much agriculture access or cuts back on Russian oil purchases, but they seem to have no real understanding of what might have swung the deal. Chances are it had everything to do with the dollar and nothing to do with Indian agriculture (or Russian oil) – no matter the posts on X by the US agriculture secretary and Trump himself.
The key offer from India might have been a ‘go slow’ on the one thing that gives America the maximum anxiety – a move away from the dollar and talk of a ‘Brics currency’. This is the one thing that makes the most sense if one tries to understand the timing of the announcement of this deal and possible reasons why Trump would have been convinced to cut tariffs for India.
President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of a trade deal with India, slashing US tariffs on Indian goods from 50 per cent to 18 per cent in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and boosting US imports, arrives amid escalating US anxieties over dollar dominance. This pact directly counters broader fears in Washington of de-dollarisation trends exemplified by Brics initiatives and the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which integrates UPI with Europe’s TIPS for non-dollar payments…..”
Read full article at firstpost.com
