‘Mutual Negotiation’: How India Reacted To Tariff Question Amid Trump's Tirade

New Delhi: In response to ongoing concerns over Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs on India, New Delhi reassured that it is actively engaging with Washington. Both countries are working towards negotiating the enhancement and expansion of their bilateral trade relations in a fair and mutually beneficial manner, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

In a written response to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada stated that, as of now, the US has not imposed reciprocal tariffs on India.

Prasada said, "Both countries plan to negotiate a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement. Both countries would focus on increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and enhancing supply chain integration."

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“This is an ongoing exercise and Indian exporters are working towards diversifying trade baskets and export destinations," he added.

In a separate response, Prasada explained that India’s tariff policy is designed to regulate trade, protect domestic industries, and generate revenue through taxes on imports and exports.

"Recent reforms have focused on streamlining the tariff structure and facilitating trade," the minister said.

“With the changing trade scenario, India is moving towards having Preferential/Free Trade Agreements wherein customs tariffs and non-tariff barriers are reduced or eliminated on substantial trade between the PTA/FTA members," he added.

On Monday, Sunil Barthwal, Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs regarding India’s current foreign trade developments. He confirmed that the US has not imposed any official tariffs on India, unlike Mexico, Canada, and China.

This development comes days after US President Trump’s recently claimed that India had agreed to lower its import duties on US goods, citing his "exposure" of the country.

Also read | Trump Claims India Has Agreed to Cut Duties After 'Someone Finally Exposed Them,' Days After Announcing

Trump Claims India Agreed to Cut Duties

Speaking in the Oval Office, 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 there. 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.”

In his address to a joint session of the US Congress, Trump said India has charged the US tariffs higher than 100 percent. He also accused China of charging an average tariff on American products that is twice what the US charges them, and South Korea’s average tariff is four times higher.

He expressed that the system is not fair to the US and never has been.

"Whatever they tax us, we will tax them," he vowed.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last month, India and the US reaffirmed their commitment to more than doubling two-way commerce to USD 500 billion by 2030 and to negotiate the first phase of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the fall of 2025.