US President Donald Trump said that India has agreed to cut tariffs “way down” after he “exposed” the Indian government for imposing massive tariffs on American imports.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said, “India charges us massive tariffs, massive. You can’t even sell anything in India. It’s almost… it is restrictive. You know, we do very little business inside. They have agreed, by the way. They want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody’s finally exposing them for what they have done.”
“Our country has been ripped off by all countries… Canada, Mexico, India," he added, while addressing the reporters in Oval Office.
Interestingly, Trump’s remarks come at a time when Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is in Washington for trade talks with his US counterpart Howard Lutnick to discuss a multi-sector bilateral trade pact.
This is the third time Trump has brought up the India-US tariff issue in recent days. He has referred to India as "tariff king" and "tariff abuser" in the past. The US president has announced that reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose high tariffs on American imports will start on April 2, in line with his "America First" policy.
Trump’s comment came hours after India said it is looking at “deepening trade ties with the US including by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers under a bilateral trade agreement”. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India expects an amicable resolution to the issue.
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Both the US and India had announced plans to negotiate a multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), during PM Narendra Modi's visit in February. The two countries set a target of $500 billion in annual trade by 2030 to narrow the trade deficit.
"Our objective through the BTA is to strengthen and deepen India-US two-way trade across the goods and services sector, increase market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration between the two countries,” Jaiswal said.
India’s decision to lower tariffs on Bourbon whiskey, wines, and Electronic Vehicle segments, in the Union budget for 2025-26, was seen as a signal to the US that New Delhi is open to cut tariffs in specific sectors.
It remains to be seen if India will escape the reciprocal tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration on April 2.