US President Donald Trump said India has agreed to cut its tariffs "way down" as he reiterated his claim that the country charges America massive tariffs that make it difficult to sell products there. His comments came following Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's visit to the US for trade talks with his counterpart Howard Lutnick.
"Our country, from an economic standpoint and financial standpoint and a trade standpoint, has been absolutely ripped off by almost every country in the world," President Trump said in remarks from the Oval Office on Friday.
"Canada, Mexico and then you just go right down the line. India charges us massive tariffs, massive, you can't even sell anything into India. It's almost, it's almost restrictive. It is restrictive. We do very little business inside," he said.
"They've agreed, by the way, they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody's finally exposing them for what they've done. And the same thing with China, same thing with a lot of other countries, and the EU has been a terrible abuser of this country."
Responding to the comment, sources said India has reduced its average applied tariffs significantly for key developed countries like Australia, UAE, Switzerland, Norway, etc under the recently concluded mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreements. Similar negotiations are currently underway with the European Union and the United Kingdom, among other partners. The ongoing discussions with the United States should be seen in this context, they said.
Sources said India and the US in February agreed to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall 2025.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump agreed to designate senior representatives to advance the negotiations, and to work towards increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepening supply chain integration, they said.
Accordingly, an Indian delegation led by Mr Goyal visited Washington DC from 3 to 6 March and met the US Commerce Secretary, the US Trade Representative, and their teams.
Sources said discussions on tariffs and other aspects of trade that were highlighted during PM Modi's visit to Washington DC are an ongoing process. Obviously, there are specifics which have been mentioned on various issues as part of the negotiation, they said, adding it is also natural that both countries have their interests and sensitivities. These are legitimate matters for a discussion, sources said.
During the first Trump administration, discussions also took place about a limited trade deal between the two nations and for various reasons, it did not produce an outcome, sources said.
Since the discussions have just begun, it would be premature to talk about its details, they said. There is also a context for each dimension that would reflect the interests of both sides.
