India on Wednesday reacted sharply to the United States President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff announcement saying that both the nations have been involved in negotiations on concluding a fair trade deal and New Delhi will take all steps necessary to secure its national interest.
The Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement that it has taken note of a statement by the US President on bilateral trade and India is studying its implications.
“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 Government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs,” said the Ministry.
The Ministry further said that the Government will take all steps necessary to secure India’s national interest, ‘as has been the case with other trade agreements including the latest Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the UK’.
India’s reaction came after US President Trump announced to impose 25% tariff on the trade with New Delhi. “Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump asserted.
Trump reportedly has been unhappy about the Indian imports of energy and defence equipment from Russia. Trump indicated that India will have to pay a ‘penalty’ on top of the imposed tariffs starting August 1, without elaborating. “…they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE – ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25 per cent, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST 1st. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!” Trump added.
Trump’s announcement came two days ahead of the impending US tariff deadline of August 1. Ever since President Trump entered the White House for the second time, he has on several occasions labelled India as ‘tariff king’, as he underlined the so-called trade imbalance between the two countries.
Over the past few months, India and the US have been negotiating for an interim trade deal, but there were some reservations from the Indian side on the US demand for opening up the agricultural and dairy sectors for the US. Agriculture and dairy are critical for India as these two sectors provide livelihood opportunities to a large section of its people. India reportedly faces US demands, including allowing remanufactured goods, opening up agriculture and dairy, accepting genetically modified (GM) feed, and adopting US rules on digital trade and product standards.