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US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that India would significantly reduce tariffs on American goods, according to a report by news agency Reuters. Speaking in an interview with Breitbart News on Wednesday, Trump stated, “I believe they are probably going to be lowering those tariffs substantially, but on April 2, we will be charging them the same tariffs they charge us.”
Tariffs are government-imposed import duties that businesses must pay to import foreign goods into a country. Trump has been vocal about what he considers unfair trade practices, particularly criticizing India and other nations for imposing high tariffs on American products.
Last week, the Indian government clarified in Parliament that, as of now, the United States has not imposed reciprocal tariffs on India. However, Trump recently announced that the US will introduce reciprocal tariffs on nations levying duties on American goods, effective April 2.
On February 13, the US administration issued a memorandum on reciprocal trade and tariffs. It directed the Commerce Secretary and the US Trade Representative (USTR) to evaluate the impact of non-reciprocal trade agreements on the US economy. They were instructed to assess potential damages and submit a report detailing proposed measures against each trading partner.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last month, India and the US committed to more than doubling their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Additionally, both nations agreed to finalize the initial phase of a multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall 2025.
In 2023, the trade volume between India and the US reached $190.08 billion, including $123.89 billion in goods and $66.19 billion in services. India exported $83.77 billion worth of goods to the US while importing $40.12 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $43.65 billion in India’s favor. From 2021 to 2024, the US emerged as India’s largest trading partner and remains one of the few nations where India enjoys a trade surplus.
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