India, US have trade interests and sensitivities, details too early to discuss

New Delhi: India and the US’s interests and sensitivities are part of ongoing discussions for a trade deal and it is premature to talk about details such as tariff reductions, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday, hours after US President Donald Trump claimed New Delhi has agreed to cut its levies on American exports.

The reaction from the Indian side came after Trump again claimed that India charges “massive tariffs” and it was “restrictive” to do business with New Delhi. He also claimed India had agreed to cut its tariffs “way down” because the US is “finally exposing them”.

The people, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that India and the US agreed in February to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement by the fall of 2025 and subsequently begun negotiations on the trade deal.

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Discussions on tariffs and other aspects of trade relations, which were highlighted during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last month, are an ongoing process, the people said.

“It is natural that both countries have their interests and sensitivities. These are legitimate matters for a discussion,” one of the people cited above said. “Since the discussions have just begun, it would be premature to talk about their details.”

Both sides have mentioned specifics on various issues as part of the negotiations and there is a context for each dimension that reflects the interests of the two countries, the people said.

While addressing the media in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump reiterated his long-standing claims that the US had been “absolutely ripped off by almost every country in the world” in trade and economic matters. He listed India, Canada, China, Mexico and the European Union (EU) among countries and blocs that have purportedly engaged in such activity.

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“India charges us massive tariffs, massive. You can’t even sell anything into India, it’s almost restrictive. It is restrictive, we do very little business inside,” Trump said. They’ve agreed, by the way, they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody is finally exposing them for what they’ve done.”

As with most of Trump’s comments on trade-related matters, his claims weren’t backed up by trade figures. According to the US trade representative’s website, US exports to India accounted for $41.8 billion out of the total two-way trade in goods worth $129.2 billion in 2024.

When foreign secretary Vikram Misri was asked at a media briefing on Saturday about Trump’s remarks on tariffs and the negotiations with the US for a trade deal, he declined to go into details. Noting that there is a lot of interest in statements emanating from the US, he said: “I will not get into that at this point of time because these are ongoing discussions, so it would not be right to get into it.”

However, Misri pointed out that tariff liberalisation was the basis for several bilateral trade agreements finalised by India in recent years. “There are ongoing discussions with several other partners on these issues now, and I think the ongoing discussions should be seen in that context as well,” he said.

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The people cited above said India had significantly reduced its average applied tariffs for key developed countries such as Australia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Switzerland and Norway under recently concluded bilateral trade agreements.

Negotiations for trade deals are currently underway with the EU and the UK, and ongoing discussions with the US should be seen in this context, the people said.

The external affairs ministry, while providing New Delhi’s first official response to Trump’s threat to impose reciprocal tariffs on trade partners from April 2, said on Friday that the trade deal being negotiated by India and the US is aimed at deepening two-way trade in goods and services, increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and bolstering supply chain integration.

At their meeting in February, Modi and Trump agreed to designate senior representatives to advance the negotiations. In keeping with this decision, an Indian delegation led by commerce minister Piyush Goyal visited Washington during March 3-6 and engaged the US commerce secretary and the US trade representative and their teams.

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India and the US also held discussions during Trump’s first term on a limited trade deal but these negotiations didn’t produce an outcome because of various reasons.

India has already cut tariffs on some US products that are politically important for Trump, such as bourbon whiskey and high-end motorcycles, and authorities are exploring ways to cut other levies as part of proposed trade deal.