Trump used presents of commerce entry to dealer India-Pakistan ceasefire, claims U.S. Commerce Secretary

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick claimed that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan was “only achieved” after Donald Trump stepped in and supplied each nations buying and selling entry to the U.S. to be able to “avert a full-scale war”. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The U.S. authorities has, for the primary time, placed on document in a courtroom submission its declare that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, following India’s Operation Sindoor, was “only achieved” after U.S. President Donald Trump stepped in and supplied each nations buying and selling entry to the U.S. to be able to “avert a full-scale war”.

This comes about two weeks after External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on May 13 formally clarified that whereas there have been “conversations” between Indian and U.S. leaders between May 7 — when Operation Sindoor commenced — and May 10, “the issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions”.

Mr. Jaiswal had added that the ceasefire had been cast by way of “direct contact”, not through U.S. mediation. He was reacting to Mr. Trump’s feedback a day earlier saying that India and Pakistan had ended hostilities for lots of causes, however “trade was the big one”.

The on-record submission to the United States Court of International Trade was made on May 23 by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and three different officers of the Trump administration.

Tariffs and nationwide safety

They have been talking of their defence towards a lawsuit filed by small U.S.-based firms difficult the ten% international tariffs Mr. Trump had imposed on almost all imports. In the submission, Mr. Lutnick argued that the flexibility to impose such tariffs was a “cornerstone” of the U.S. nationwide safety structure.

“For example, India and Pakistan — two nuclear powers engaged in combat operations just 13 days ago — reached a tenuous ceasefire on May 10, 2025,” Mr. Lutnick famous. “This ceasefire was only achieved after President Trump interceded and offered both nations trading access with the United States to avert a full-scale war.”

“An adverse ruling that constrains presidential power in this case could lead India and Pakistan to question the validity of President Trump’s offer, threatening the security of an entire region and the lives of millions,” he added.

When requested about this newest doc filed within the U.S. Court of International Trade, Mr. Jaiswal mentioned that the Indian authorities had made its stand on the ceasefire amply clear within the briefing on May 13.

Trade talks at superior stage

These U.S. authorities statements about commerce entry come at a time when India and the U.S. have reached the superior stage of negotiations for some form of commerce deal by July 9 — the deadline for the 90-day pause Mr. Trump had supplied on his international retaliatory tariffs.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal returned final weekend from a week-long journey to the U.S. the place he met Mr. Lutnick twice in the middle of the negotiations over the commerce deal. U.S. authorities officers are anticipated to now journey to India to proceed the negotiations over the subsequent few weeks.

The two nations are additionally concerned in an ongoing tussle on the World Trade Organization (WTO). While India has knowledgeable the WTO that it reserves the precise to impose reciprocal tariffs on the U.S. in response to that nation’s elevated import duties on metal and aluminium, the U.S. has maintained that these duties are a matter of nationwide safety and can’t be contested on the WTO.