Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau
The Centre has denied committing to reducing import duties on US products, following President Donald Trump’s claim that New Delhi had agreed to lower tariffs, The Times of India reported
The Centre on Tuesday told a Parliamentary panel that it had made “no commitments to the US on the issue”, the report added.
The government “has sought time until September to address the issue that is being repeatedly flagged by the American president,” the report said.
It also mentioned that commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal, while appearing before the Parliamentary standing committee on external affairs, reportedly said India and the US were working on a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement, prioritising long-term cooperation over immediate tariff adjustments.
Donald Trump on Friday said India has agreed to cut tariffs significantly because he is finally exposing New Delhi for imposing ‘massive tariffs’ on American imports.
He had also blamed all trading partners of “unfair” practices and announced reciprocal tariffs on many countries, including India, to begin from next month.
India charges us massive tariffs. Massive. You can’t even sell anything in India. They have agreed, by the way; they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done,” ANI quoted Trump as saying.
Earlier on Saturday, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick claimed that India’s tariffs on American products are among the highest globally and urged New Delhi to reconsider its position, noting that the two countries share a “special” bilateral relationship.
Speaking virtually at the India Today Conclave, the commerce secretary stressed the need for India to open up its agricultural trade for imports and suggested that it can be “smarter” while dealing with the most “important trading partner” US, on the other side of the table.
Meanwhile, US stock markets plunged on Monday as investors grew worried about the economic fallout from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
