Trump slams India’s tariffs, retaliatory duties begin from 2nd April

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday aimed at India for its high tariffs, indicating that trade deal negotiations might not provide concessions to New Delhi on comprehensive levies like reciprocal tariffs, which are scheduled to be effective from 2nd April, 2025. He specifically mentioned the auto industry, where he said India imposes tariffs of more than a 100 per cent.Trump denounced the hefty tariffs levied by India and other nations as "very unfair" and had declared retaliatory tariffs from April 2 on countries imposing tariffs on US products.

US reciprocal tariff on India 

Speaking to a Joint Session of the US Congress, Trump said,"India taxes us at 100 percent tariffs; the system is unfair to the US, it never was. Reciprocal tariffs go into effect on 2nd April . Whatever they tax us, we will tax them. If they apply non-monetary tariffs to bar us from their market, then we will apply non-monetary barriers to bar them from our market." It was his first speech of his second term in the White House. On 20th January, 2025 Trump took the oath as the 47th US President. 

This arises only a few weeks after Indian industry expressed optimism that a trade agreement with the United States could help New Delhi obtain respite from broad tariffs in exchange for market access for American goods in India, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US. Even before talks started, India had aggressively reduced duties on a variety of goods, including bourbon whisky.

Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, India Cellular And Electronics Association (ICEA), commenting on its impact in the sector’s said,“We are optimistic that a well-structured Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between two partners who trust each other will be hammered out. Offering reciprocal zero duty in the potential BTA for Smartphones, Hearable and Wearables, Colour Televisions, Consumer Electronics and Appliances, Lighting etc. is not an extraordinary step for us since we already provide that treatment to FTAs with Japan, Korea and ASEAN (Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia etc.). The long-term impact of a cautious optimistic outlook is the ballooning of our electronics exports to the US from the current level of USD 10 billion to USD 80 billion, an 800% growth by 2030.”

As Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal began his US tour Monday to meet with Jamieson Greer, the new United States Trade Representative (USTR) entrusted with carrying out Trump's tariff agenda, it is evident that efforts are being made to mitigate the effects of reciprocal tariffs.