US tariff announcement- India to take all steps to protect national interest: Union Commerce Minister
New Delhi: India will take all necessary steps to safeguard and promote national interest, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, a day after US President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs plus a penalty on domestic exports to America from August 1.
In a suo motu statement in both the houses of Parliament, he said, the government is examining the implications of these tariffs and is engaged with all stakeholders including exporters and industry for taking feedback of their assessment of the situation.
“The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, exporters, MSMEs and all sections of industry. We will take all necessary steps to secure and advance our national interest,” he said.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from India starting August 1, plus an unspecified penalty for buying Russian crude oil and military equipment.
The surprise announcement came amid a US trade team visiting India from August 25 for the sixth round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement.
Goyal’s remarks are important as India has hardened its stance on giving duty concessions to the US on agriculture and dairy sectors — a key demand of America in the trade talks with India.
New Delhi has never opened dairy sector in any of its earlier signed free trade pacts. The agri sector is a politically sensitive for India as about 700 million rural livelihoods are dependent on it. Lowering duties would also pose risk to national food security.
The two countries have been negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) since March with an aim to more than double the bilateral trade in goods and services to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion. So far five rounds of talks have been completed.
For the sixth round, the US team is visiting India from August 25. They are aiming to conclude the first phase of the agreement by fall (October-November) this year. The two sides are also looking at an interim trade deal before the BTA.
The US wants duty concessions on certain industrial goods, automobiles, especially electric vehicles, wines, petrochemical products, and agri goods, dairy items, apples, tree nuts, and genetically modified crops.
On the other hand, India is seeking the removal of additional tariffs. It is also seeking the easing of tariffs on steel and aluminium (50 per cent) and the auto (25 per cent) sectors. Against these, India has reserved its right under the WTO (World Trade Organization) norms to impose retaliatory duties.
The country is also seeking duty concessions for labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, grapes, and bananas in the proposed trade pact.
When asked about the implications of the tariff announcement on ongoing negotiations for the pact, sources said the next round of talks are scheduled for August.
“Let us wait and watch how things evolves. The ball is in the US court,” said one of the sources.
On the quantum of penalty and the structure of the 25 per cent tariff, they said: “There is no clarity on that. we are waiting for the executive order of the US on this for the clarity.”
US President Donald Trump is “frustrated” with the lack of progress on trade talks with India and feels that the 25 per cent tariff imposed on the country will “address and remedy” the situation, the White House economic adviser suggested on Wednesday.
The commerce minister also said that in just over a decade, India has rapidly transformed from being one of the fragile five to the fastest growing major economy in the world and it is also widely expected that India will become the third largest economy in a few years.
Today, he said, international institutions and economists see India as the bright spot in the global economy as the country is contributing to almost 16 per cent of global growth.
Trump has once again mounted a sharp attack on India and Russia for their close ties and said he doesn’t care what New India does with Moscow.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” he said, adding, “we have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world.”
Goyal said that in the last decade, the government has taken measures to promote India as the manufacturing hub of the world, driven by the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
He added that in an increasingly protectionist world, India has done mutually beneficial trade agreements with UAE, UK, Australia and EFTA countries.
“We are also committed to similar trade agreements with other countries. We are consistently working for the welfare of the farmers and Indian agriculture, to promote prosperity and ensure food security,” the minister noted.
During 2021-25, the US was India’s largest trading partner. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India’s total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in bilateral trade.
With America, India had a trade surplus (the difference between imports and exports) of USD 35.32 billion in goods in 2023-24. It was USD 41 billion in 2024-25.
In 2024-25, bilateral trade between India and the US reached USD 186 billion. India exported USD 86.5 billion in goods while importing USD 45.3 billion.
