JD Vance Highlights Trade And Economic Goals For U.S.-India Partnership In Jaipur Speech

Forbes

Vice President JD Vance focuses on trade and the economic alliance of the U.S. and India in his speech at the Rajasthan Centre in Jaipur, India.   Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  0:00 Introduction 2:32 JD Vance's Economic Goals For The U.S. 8:21 Economic Notes From JD Vance 16:45 Energy Sources For The U.S.  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Please welcome the Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance.

00:25Good to see everybody. How are we doing?

00:27Good, good. Well, it's an amazing privilege to be here in Jaipur. I'm thrilled to address

00:35the Ananda Sanders India-U.S. Forum, and I'm thrilled to have you all here with me. Thanks

00:40to all of you – the business leaders, decision makers, and of course, the students – for

00:45being here. And thanks to our great team at the U.S. Embassy for everything that you guys

00:49do for our country. In the United States, we're proud of the deep connection between our nations,

00:55between India and the United States. Prime Minister Modi, as most of you probably know,

01:00was one of the first visitors welcomed into the Oval Office during President Trump's

01:04second term. And like President Trump, the Prime Minister inspires remarkable loyalty because

01:10of the strength of his belief in his people and in his country. Now, we're so grateful

01:16for Prime Minister Modi's hospitality, as well as the reception that he and everyone else

01:20in this country have given us on this first trip for me to India. This is my first time

01:27visiting the birthplace of my wife's parents. And she's, of course, in the front row there.

01:32There you are, Usha. She's a bit of a celebrity, it turns out, in India, I think more so than

01:41her husband. But I haven't been here long, but already I've been fortunate enough to visit

01:46the Akhsidham Temple – did I pronounce that right, honey? I did okay? All right.

01:51With my family this morning, as a matter of fact. And last night, Prime Minister Modi welcomed

01:56me, Usha, and our three small children at his beautiful home. I've been amazed by the ancient

02:03beauty of the architecture of India, by the richness of India's history and traditions, but also

02:09by India's laser-like focus on the future. And those things, I think, this appreciation for history

02:15and tradition and this focus on the future is very much something that I think animates this country

02:20in 2025. Now, in other countries I've visited, it sometimes feels like there's a flatness,

02:26a saneness, a desire to just be like everyone else in the world. But it's different here.

02:33There's a vitality to India, a sense of infinite possibility, of new homes to be built, new skylines

02:40to be raised, and lives to be enriched. And there's a pride in being Indian, a feeling of excitement

02:46about the days that lie ahead. Now, it's a striking contrast with too many in the West,

02:52where some in our leadership class seem stricken by self-doubt and even fear of the future. To them,

02:59humanity is always one bad decision away from catastrophe. The world will soon end, they tell

03:04us, because we're burning too much fuel or making too many things or having too many children. And so,

03:10rather than invest in the future, they too often retreat from it. Some of them pass laws that force

03:17their nations to use less power. They cancel nuclear and other energy generation facilities,

03:23even as their choices, the choices of these leaders lead to more dependence on foreign adversaries.

03:29Meanwhile, their message to their friends, to countries like India, is to tell them that

03:34they're not allowed to grow. Well, President Trump rejects these failed ideas. He wants America to

03:41grow. He wants India to grow. And he wants to build the future with our partners all over the globe.

03:52And when I look at this audience, or when I visit this incredible country over these last couple of

03:58days, I see a people that will not be held back. Now, the most profound responsibility,

04:03I believe that all of us have, is not to ourselves, but to the next generation, to make sure we leave

04:09them with a better society than the one that our parents and our grandparents gave us. And this is

04:14the world that America seeks to create with you. We want to build a bright new world, one that's

04:20constantly innovating, one that's helping people to form families, making it easier to build,

04:26invest, and trade together in pursuit of common goals. Now, I believe that our nations have much

04:33to offer one another. And that's why we come to you as partners looking to strengthen our

04:38relationship. Now, we're not here to preach that you do things any one particular way.

04:45Too often in the past, Washington approached Prime Minister Modi with an attitude of preachiness,

04:50or even one of condescension. Prior administrations saw India as a source of low-cost labor on the one

04:58hand, even as they criticized the Prime Minister's government, arguably the most popular in the

05:03democratic world. And as I told Prime Minister Modi last night, he's got approval ratings that would

05:08make me jealous. But it wasn't just India. This attitude captured too much of our economic

05:17relationship with the rest of the world. So we shipped countless jobs overseas, and with them,

05:24our capacity to make things, from furniture, appliances, and even weapons of war. We traded

05:31hard power for soft power, because with economic integration, we were told, would also come peace

05:38through sameness. Over time, we'd all assume the same sort of bland, secular, universal values,

05:46no matter where you lived. The world was flat. After all, that was the thesis, and that was what

05:51they told us. And when that thesis proved false, or at least incomplete, leaders in the West took it

05:58upon themselves to flatten it by any means necessary. But many people across the world, and I think your

06:04country counts among them, they did not want to be flattened. Many were proud of where they came from,

06:10their way of life, the kind of jobs they worked, and the kind of jobs their parents worked before

06:15them. And that very much includes people in my own country, the United States of America.

06:21Now, some of you are aware of my own background. I actually didn't plan to talk about my background

06:26at all until last night at dinner, while my children mostly behaved. We gave an A- for behavior

06:32with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister said, I have one request. I want you to talk a little bit

06:38about your background. And so I wanted to do that. For those of you who don't know anything about me,

06:42I wanted to talk about it. I come from, and I'm biased, the greatest state in the Union,

06:48the state of Ohio, a longtime manufacturing powerhouse in the United States of America.

06:53My home specifically is a place called Middletown. Now, it's not a massive city by any means. It's not

06:59Jaipur, but it's a decent-sized town and a place where people make things, which has been a point of

07:05pride in Middletown for generations. It's filled with families like my own, some of whom called us

07:11hillbillies, Americans who came down from the surrounding hills and mountains of West Virginia,

07:16Tennessee, and Kentucky to cities like Middletown in pursuit of the manufacturing jobs that were

07:23creating widespread prosperity for families all across America. They came to Middletown in search

07:28of what we call back home the American dream. In Middletown, my parents raised me. My grandparents

07:34raised me. They taught us to work hard. They taught me to study hard. And they taught me to love God

07:40and my country and always be good to your own. My granddad, who I called Papaw growing up,

07:46he typified that. Late into life, he worked as a steelmaker at the local mill. And I know India

07:53has a lot of those. Papaw's job gave him a good wage, stable hours, and a generous pension.

07:59All that allowed him to support not just him and my grandmother, but his own daughter and grandkids

08:04with him. Now, by the time I came around, money was awfully tight, but he worked hard to make a good

08:09living for all of us. Now, I know Papaw and Mamaw were grateful for the way of life their

08:14country made possible. Their generation bore witness to the formation of America's great

08:20middle class. And by creating an economy centered around production, around workers who build things,

08:26and around the value of their labor, our nation's leaders then transformed their country and made

08:32thousands of little Middletowns possible. The government supported its labor force.

08:37We created incentives for productive industries to take root and struck good deals with international

08:43partners to sell the goods made in the United States of America. But as America settled in to

08:49world historic prosperity it generated, our leaders began to take that very prosperity and what created

08:56it for granted. They forgot the importance of building, of supporting productive industry,

09:02of striking fair deals, and of supporting our workers and their families.

09:05And as time went on, we saw the consequences. In my hometown, factories left, jobs evaporated,

09:13America's Middletowns ceased to be the lifeblood of our nation's economy. And the United States,

09:19as it became transformed, those very people, the working class, the background of the United

09:25States of America, were dismissed as backwards for holding on to the values their people had held

09:30dear for generations. Now Middletown's story is my story, but it's hardly unusual in the United States

09:37of America. There are tens of millions of Americans who over the last 20 or so years have woken up to what's

09:44happening in our nation. But I believe they woke up well before it's too late. Now like you, we want to

09:51appreciate our history, our culture, our religion. We want to do commerce and strike good deals with our friends. We want to

09:58found our vision of the future upon the proud recognition of our heritage, rather than self-loathing

10:04and fear. I work for a president who has long understood all of this. Whether through fighting

10:11those who seek to erase American history, or in support of fair trade deals abroad, he has been

10:17consistent on these issues for decades. And as a result, under the Trump administration, America now has a

10:23government that has learned from the mistakes of the past. It's why President Trump cares so deeply about

10:30protecting the manufacturing economy that is the lifeblood of American prosperity, and making sure

10:35America's workers have opportunities for good jobs. As we saw earlier this month, he will go to

10:41extraordinary lengths to protect and expand those opportunities for all Americans. And so today I come here

10:48with a simple message. Our administration seeks trade partners on the basis of fairness and of shared

10:54national interests. We want to build relationships with our foreign partners who respect their workers,

11:01who don't suppress their wages to boost exports, but respect the value of their labor. We want partners

11:07that are committed to working with America to build things, not just allowing themselves to become a

11:12conduit for transshipping others' goods. And finally, we want to partner with people and countries who

11:19recognize the historic nature of the moment we're in, of the need to come together and build something

11:25truly new, a system of global trade that is balanced, one that is open, and one that is stable and fair.

11:34Now, I want to be clear, America's partners need not look exactly like America, nor must our governments

11:42do everything exactly the same way. But we should have some common goals, and I believe here in India we do,

11:49in both economics and in national security. And that's why we're so excited, that's why I'm so excited to be here

11:56today. In India, America has a friend, and we seek to strengthen the warm bonds our great nations already share.

12:04Now, critics have attacked my president, President Trump, for starting a trade war in an effort to bring back

12:12the jobs of the past, but nothing could be further from the truth. He seeks to rebalance global trade so that

12:19America, with friends like India, can build a future worth having for all of our people together. And when President

12:27Trump and Prime Minister Modi announced in February that our countries aim to more than double our bilateral trade to

12:34500 billion dollars by the end of the decade, I know that both of them meant it. And I'm encouraged by

12:40everything our nations are doing to get us there. As many of you are aware, both of our governments are

12:47hard at work on a trade agreement built on shared priorities, like creating new jobs, building durable

12:53supply chains, and achieving prosperity for our workers. In our meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Modi and I made

13:00very good progress on all of those points. And we are especially excited to formally announce

13:06that America and India have officially finalized the terms of reference for the trade negotiation.

13:12I think this is a vital step. I believe this is a vital step toward realizing President Trump's and

13:24Prime Minister Modi's vision, because it sets a roadmap toward a final deal between our nations. I believe

13:31there is much that America and India can accomplish together. And on that note, I want to talk about a few

13:37areas of collaboration today, how India and the United States can work together. First, perhaps most

13:44importantly, to protect our nations. Second, to build great things. And finally, to innovate the cutting

13:51edge technologies both our countries will need in the years to come. Now, on defense, our countries

13:57already enjoy a close relationship, one of the closest relationships in the world. America does more military

14:03exercises with India than we do with any other nation on earth. The U.S.-India compact that President

14:09Trump and Prime Minister Modi announced in February will lay the foundation for even closer collaboration

14:15between our countries. From javelins to striker combat vehicles, our nations will co-produce many

14:22of the munitions and equipment that we'll need to deter foreign aggressors. Not because we seek war,

14:27but because we seek peace, and we believe the best path to peace is through mutual strength. And the

14:34launching the Joint Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance will enable America and India to develop

14:40the most state-of-the-art maritime systems needed for victory. It's fitting that India this year is

14:47hosting the Quad Leaders Summit this fall. Our interests in a free, open, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific

14:55are in full alignment. Both of us know that the region must remain safe from any hostile powers that

15:02seek to dominate it. Growing relations between our countries over the last decade are part of what led

15:09America to designate India a major defense partner, the first of that class. This designation means that

15:16India now shares with the UAE a defense and technology infrastructure and partnership with the United States

15:25on par with America's closest allies and friends. But we actually feel that India has much more to gain

15:34from its continued defense partnership with the United States, and let me sketch that out a little bit.

15:39We, of course, want to collaborate more. We want to work together more. And we want your nation to buy

15:44more of our military equipment, which, of course, we believe is the best in class. American fifth-generation

15:50F-35s, for example, would give the Indian Air Force the ability to defend your airspace and protect your

15:56people like never before. And I've met a lot of great people from the Indian Air Force just in the

16:00last couple of days. India, like America, wants to build. And that will mean that we have to produce

16:08more energy. It's more energy production and more energy consumption. And it's one of the many reasons why I

16:14think our nations have so much to gain by strengthening our energy ties. As President Trump is fond of

16:21saying, America has once again begun to drill baby drill. And we think that will inure to the benefit

16:29of Americans, but it will also benefit India as well. Past administrations in the United States of

16:36America, I think motivated by a fear of the future, have tied our hands and restricted American investments

16:42in oil and natural gas production. This administration recognizes that cheap, dependable energy is an

16:51essential part of making things and is an essential part of economic independence for both of our

16:57nations. Of course, America is blessed with vast natural resources and an unusual capacity to generate

17:05energy, so much that we want to be able to sell it to our friends like India. We believe your nation

17:12will benefit from American energy exports and expanding those exports. You'll be able to build more,

17:18make more, and grow more, but at much lower energy costs. We also want to help India explore its own

17:26considerable natural resources, including its offshore natural gas reserves and critical mineral supplies.

17:33We have the capacity and we have the desire to help. Moreover, we think energy co-production will help

17:40beat unfair competitors in other foreign markets. But India, we believe, can go a long way to enhance

17:47energy ties between our nations. And one suggestion I'd have is maybe consider dropping some of the

17:53non-tariff barriers for American access to the Indian market. Now, we've talked about this,

17:59of course, with Prime Minister Modi. And look, President Trump and I know that Prime Minister Modi is a

18:04tough negotiator. He drives a hard bargain. It's one of the reasons why we respect him.

18:12And we don't blame Prime Minister Modi for fighting for India's industry. But we do blame American

18:20leaders of the past for failing to do the same for our workers. And we believe that we can fix that to

18:26the mutual benefit of both the United States and India. Let me give an example. American ethanol,

18:32we believe made from the finest corn in the world, can play a tremendous role in enhancing our

18:37partnership. And I know our farmers would be delighted to support India's energy security ambitions.

18:44We welcome the Modi government's budget announcement to amend India's civil nuclear liability laws,

18:49which currently prevent U.S. producers from exporting small modular reactors and building larger U.S.

18:55business-designed reactors in India. There's much that we can create, much that we can do together.

19:03We believe that American energy can help realize India's nuclear power production goals,

19:07and this is very important, as well as its AI ambitions. Because as the United States knows well,

19:13and I know that India knows well, there is no AI future without energy security and energy dominance.

19:20And that brings me to my final point of collaboration. I believe that the technological collaboration

19:27between our countries is going to extend well beyond defense and energy. The U.S.-India

19:32Trust Initiative that President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have launched will be a cornerstone

19:38of the partnership in the future. It will build on billions of dollars of planned investments that

19:43American companies have already announced across India. In the years to come, we're going to see data

19:49centers, pharmaceuticals, undersea cables, and countless other critical goods being developed

19:55and being built because of the American and Indian economic partnership. And I'll say it again,

20:01I think that our nations have so much to gain by investing in one another. America investing in India,

20:07and of course, India investing in the United States of America. And I know that Americans,

20:12our people are excited about that prospect, and that President Trump and I are looking forward to

20:18stronger ties. Americans want further access to Indian markets. This is a great place to do business,

20:24and we want to give our people more access to this country. And Indians, we believe, will thrive from

20:29greater commerce in the United States. This is very much a win-win partnership. It certainly will be

20:36far into the future. And as I know this audience knows better than most, neither Americans nor Indians

20:45are alone in looking to scale up their manufacturing capacity. The competition extends well beyond cheap

20:52consumer goods and into munitions, energy, infrastructure, and all sorts of other cutting-edge technologies.

21:00I believe that if our nations fail to keep pace, the consequences for the Indo-Pacific,

21:06but really the consequences for the entire world, will be quite dire. And this again is where India

21:11and the United States have so much to offer one another. We've got great hardware, the leading

21:16artificial intelligence hardware in the world. You have one of the most exciting startup technology

21:23infrastructures anywhere in the world. There's a lot to be gained by working together. And this is why

21:29President Trump and I both welcome India's leadership in a number of diplomatic organizations, but of

21:35course, in the Quad. We believe a stronger India means greater economic prosperity, but also greater

21:42stability across the Indo-Pacific, which is, of course, a shared goal for all of us in this room,

21:47and it's a shared goal for both of our countries. I want to close with one last story, or maybe a couple

21:54of stories. So, you know, my son, Ewan, is seven years old. He's our firstborn son. And yesterday,

22:01after we had dinner at the Prime Minister's house, the food was so good and the Prime Minister was so

22:08kind to our three children that Ewan came up to me afterwards and he said, Dad, you know,

22:12I think maybe I could live in India. But I think after about 90 minutes in the Jaipur sun today at

22:23the Great Palace, he suggested that maybe we should move to England. So you take the good with the bad

22:28here. But I want to talk about Prime Minister Modi because I think he's a special person. I first met

22:33Prime Minister Modi at the AI Action Summit in February, and we had a lot of important discussions

22:39on AI and other policies to prepare for. The Prime Minister also managed to figure out that my son,

22:45Vivek, was actually turning five years old on the trip. This was in Paris just a couple of months ago.

22:51So think about this. Amid a huge international policy conference, he took the time to stop by

22:56where I was staying, wish our second son, Vivek, a happy birthday, and even bring him a gift. Ush and I

23:04were both genuinely touched by his graciousness, and we've been even more impressed by his warmth

23:09since we arrived in India. Now, it's interesting. Some of you may know that when you're a politician,

23:14your kids spend almost as much time in the limelight as you do. And the great things about

23:20kids is they are brutally honest. They're brutally honest with everybody, whether you want them to

23:24be or not. And our seven-year-old, our five-year-old, and then our three-year-old baby girl, Mirabelle,

23:30it's interesting. They've only really attached themselves to, they've only really liked,

23:37I should say, they've only really built a rapport with two world leaders. The first, of course,

23:43is President Trump. He just has a certain energy about him. But Prime Minister Modi,

23:49it's the exact same thing. Our kids just like him. And I think that because kids are such good,

23:54strong of characters, I just like Prime Minister Modi too. And I think it's a great foundation

23:59for the future of our relationship.

24:03I could tell then, I could tell when Prime Minister Modi came over a couple of months ago. And I believe

24:08today that he is a serious leader who has thought deeply about India's future prosperity and security,

24:15not just for the rest of his time in office, but over the next century.

24:18And I want to end by making a simple overarching point. We are now officially one quarter into the

24:2721st century, 25 years in 75 years to go. And I really believe that the future of the 21st century

24:37is going to be determined by the strength of the United States-India partnership. I believe. Thank you.

24:48I believe that if India and the United States work together successfully, we are going to see a 21st

24:56century that is prosperous and peaceful. But I also believe that if we fail to work together

25:01successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity. So I want to say it's clear

25:09to me, as it is to most observers, that President Trump, of course, intends to rebalance America's

25:15economic relationship with the rest of the world. That's going to cause fundamentally will cause

25:21profound changes within our borders in the United States, but of course, with other countries as

25:26well. But I believe that this rebalancing is going to produce great benefits for American workers.

25:34It's going to produce great benefits for the people of India. And because our partnership is so

25:40important to the future of the world, I believe President Trump's efforts, joined, of course,

25:46by the whole country of India and Prime Minister Modi, will make the 21st century the best century in

25:52human history. Let's do it together. God bless you. And thank you for having me.

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