US President Donald Trump
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REUTERS
The Department of Commerce is carefully examining the implications of the executive order on reciprocal tariffs issued by US President Donald Trump, which imposes an additional duty of 27 per cent on India, and is also studying the opportunities that may arise due to the new development in the US trade policy, per a government statement.
India is hopeful that the reciprocal tariff issue will be sorted out in the BTA discussions through possible carve-outs and exemptions for the country and a mutually beneficial outcome will emerge, sources told businessline.
“Keeping in view the vision of Viksit Bharat, the Department is engaged with all stakeholders, including Indian industry and exporters, taking feedback of their assessment of the tariffs and assessing the situation. The Department is also studying the opportunities that may arise due to this new development in the US trade policy,” a release issued by the Commerce Department on Thursday said.
The government is hopeful of opportunities as reciprocal duties imposed by the US on many of India’s competitors—such as China (35 per cent in addition to the 20 per cent imposed earlier), Vietnam (46 per cent), Taiwan (32 per cent), Cambodia (49 per cent), Bangladesh (37 per cent), Indonesia (32 per cent), and Malaysia (24 per cent)—are much higher. New Delhi may have a competitive edge in the US market for certain products, such as textiles and electronics, if exporters can leverage the situation effectively.
On February 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump announced ‘Mission 500’ aiming to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, the statement observed. “Accordingly, discussions are ongoing between Indian and US trade teams for the expeditious conclusion of a mutually beneficial, multi-sectoral Bilateral Trade Agreement. These cover a wide range of issues of mutual interest including deepening supply chain integration. The ongoing talks are focused on enabling both nations to grow trade, investments and technology transfers. We remain in touch with the Trump Administration on these issues and expect to take them forward in the coming days,” it said.
The executive order on reciprocal tariffs imposes additional ad-valorem duties ranging from 10 per cent to 50 per cent on imports from all trading partners, the statement noted. The baseline duty of 10 per cent will be effective from April 05, 2025 and the remaining country specific additional ad-valorem duty will be effective from April 09, 2025. “The additional duty on India as per the Annex I of the executive order is 27 per cent,” it said.
India values its comprehensive global strategic partnership with the US and is committed to working closely with the US to implement the India-US ‘Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology’ (COMPACT) for the 21st century to ensure that our trade ties remain a pillar of mutual prosperity and drive transformative change for the benefit of the people of India and the US, the statement added.
Published on April 3, 2025
