India Signals Readiness to Cut Tariffs Amid Donald Trump’s Aggressive Trade Push: US Trade Official

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on April 8 informed the US Senators that India is among a growing list of countries considering reductions in tariffs and trade barriers in response to the Donald Trump administration’s hardline trade policies and the imposition of sweeping reciprocal tariffs last week. 

Tariff Exemptions On The Cards?

He also maintained that exemptions to President Donald Trump's global tariffs are not a near possibility. 

"The president has been clear, again, that he's not doing exemptions or exceptions in the near term,” Greer told US Senate Finance Committee. 

In his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Greer defended President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national trade emergency, arguing that the administration’s aggressive stance is beginning to yield results.

“Our average agricultural tariff is just 5 per cent, while India’s average stands at 39 per cent,” Greer told lawmakers, highlighting what he described as longstanding imbalances in global trade. 

Also Read: Donald Trump's 104% Tariff On China Begins Midnight In Start of A Global Trade War

India-US Tariff Negotiations Underway?

He identified India, along with Argentina, Vietnam, and Israel, as nations that have expressed a willingness to lower both tariff and non-tariff barriers in response to the push by the Donald Trump administration for greater trade reciprocity.

“Nearly 50 countries have approached me personally to discuss the President's new policy and explore how to achieve reciprocity,” Greer said. 

The Trump administration has launched sweeping tariffs on a range of imports, including steel, aluminium, and automotive parts, as part of its broader strategy to revive the US manufacturing industry and address the ballooning trade deficit. Greer attributed the loss of five million US manufacturing jobs and the closure of 90,000 factories since 1994 to ‘non-reciprocal tariffs, trading barriers and other economic policies pursued by our foreign trading partners’.

Wall Street Slide Deepens

Though Wall Street has seen heightened volatility amid escalating trade tensions - particularly with China - Greer further said that US government is still open to negotiations. “If you have a better idea to achieve reciprocity and to get our trade deficit down, we want to negotiate with you,” he said.

US Tariff On India

The United States on April 2 updated its import tariff on Indian goods, lowering it slightly from the previously announced 27 per cent to 26 per cent. The revised tariff rate came into effect on April 9, 2025. Speaking at a press conference, President Donald Trump unveiled a chart detailing reciprocal tariffs for key trading partners, including India, China, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

The chart showed that while India levies a 52 per cent tariff, the US will impose a reduced reciprocal rate of 26 per cent. This marks a small adjustment from the initially proposed 27 per cent, now officially confirmed by the White House.