Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington for a meeting with US President Donald Trump to discuss a range of issues, including tariffs, Iran, Israel’s war in Gaza and hostage release efforts. The Israeli leader is also expected to discuss relations with Turkey and the international criminal court, which accused him of war crimes.

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Netanyahu-Trump meet

This comes following Trump’s shock tariff announcement on April 2, when he introduced new “retaliatory tariffs” aimed at countries imposing trade barriers on the United States. Netanyahu’s visit marks the first negotiation meeting by a foreign leader to strike a better deal with the US president.

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Earlier on Thursday (Apr 3), Trump said that he is expecting a visit from the Israeli prime minister soon, “maybe even next week”. The timing of his remarks came as a surprise for Israeli officials and even some Trump administration members, reported Axios.

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Trump’s tariff threat

Israel had attempted to dodge the 17 per cent tariffs on imports from the Middle East nation by dropping all remaining duties on one per cent of American goods on Tuesday (Apr 1), a day before the sweeping global tariffs were announced. However, Trump went ahead with imposing the tariffs and said that the US had a significant trade deficit with Israel and leading beneficiary of military aid.

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The US is Israel’s largest single trading partner and closest ally. The two nations had signed a free trade agreement 40 years ago and around 98 per cent of US goods are tax-free.

On Thursday (Apr 3), an Israeli finance ministry official stated that Trump’s latest tariff announcement could impact machinery and medical equipment exports, reported The Guardian.

(With inputs from agencies)