India responds to Trump’s 25% tariff
Hours after US President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods, New Delhi said it would take “all steps necessary” to secure the interests of its domestic players.
“India and the US have been engaged in negotiations on concluding a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement over the last few months. We remain committed to that objective,” the Indian Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
New Delhi cited the recently concluded deal on free trade with the UK, stating that its approach to similar pacts with other nations, including the US, will remain the same – it will take into account the concerns and interests of its farmers, entrepreneurs, and small and medium-sized businesses.
Trump earlier on Wednesday announced in a post on his Truth Social account that India would face 25% tariffs and additional penalties starting August 1 over its high tariffs and continued energy and defense trade with Russia.
“While India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high,” Trump wrote, adding that New Delhi also “bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and [is] Russia’s largest buyer of energy.”
Trump’s announcement came as the two nations attempt to negotiate a trade deal. The US imposed a 26% tariff on Indian goods in March as part of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on dozens of nations, although the measures were soon thereafter suspended until August 1. According to the Indian media, the two nations have been negotiating an interim trade pact, with talks expected to be extended beyond the August 1 deadline.
“An interim deal was reached by the negotiators on both sides, and it appears it was presented to Trump. And Trump took a position that it was not enough, that most of the Indian market has to be open,” former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal noted in the interview with RT. He added that he had anticipated that the US leader would not give India “an easy deal” after he managed what he called “one-sided deals” with the EU and Japan, calling Trump’s approach “pressure tactics.”
The former diplomat also countered Trump’s statement that the US does “little” business with India, noting that Washington is New Delhi’s largest trade partner with bilateral turnover crossing $132 billion in the last financial year.
