Indian official says Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff is ‘mixed bag, not a setback’: Report
Hours after US president Donald Trump imposed a “discounted” 26 per cent retaliatory tariff on Indian exports to the country, a commerce ministry official told that the impact was a “mixed bag and not a setback”.
The official, who wished anonymity, said the universal 10 per cent tariffs will come into effect on all imports into the US from April 5 and the remaining 16 per cent from April 10. “It is a mixed bag and not a setback for India,” the official said.
The Indian official also said that the commerce ministry was analysing the impact on India’s trade and noted that the Trump administration has expressed willingness to slash tariff rates if its concerns on trade are addressed.
The White House had said that tariff rates would not be increased if countries did not retaliate further and address its concerns on bilateral trade.
‘India not treating US right,’ says Trump
During his “Liberation Day” announcement, Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘a great friend’ but added that the country was “not treating us right”.
“Their Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) just left (US recently). He is a great friend of mine, but I said to him that ‘you’re a friend of mine, but you’ve not been treating us right’. India charges us 52 per cent, so we will charge them half of that – 26 per cent,” Trump said.
Donald Trump’s chart, displayed during his remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House, alleged that India charged 52 per cent tariffs, including currency manipulation and trade barriers, and America would now charge India a discounted reciprocal tariff of 26 per cent. However, according to the White House documents, there will be a 27 per cent duty on India.
The document claimed that India’s simple average Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rate is 17%, significantly higher than the 3.3% charged by the US. A retaliatory tariff of a similar rate, added by a 10% baseline tariff, would mean India could be charged a 27% tariff in total.
The NDA-led Centre is already negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US. The two countries are aiming to finalise the first phase of the pact by fall (September-October) of this year.
