Trump Signals Tariff Reduction Hopes as US Prepares Reciprocal Duties on India

Last Updated Mar - 20 - 2025, 03:27 PM | Source : Fela News

US to charge India reciprocal tariffs even with lower duties.

The US President Donald Trump in an interview with Breitbart News on Wednesday said that he hopes that India will reduce tariffs on American goods.

“I believe they are going to probably going to be lowering those tariffs substantially, but on April 2, we will be charging them the same tariffs they charge us,” Trump said, according to Reuters.

Last week, the Centre informed Parliament that the United States has not yet imposed reciprocal tariffs on India. This clarification followed former US President Donald Trump’s criticism of India and other nations for imposing high tariffs on American goods, which he called “very unfair.” He also announced that starting April 2, the US would introduce reciprocal tariffs on countries that levy duties on American products.

On February 13, the US issued a memorandum on reciprocal trade and tariffs, instructing the commerce secretary and the US trade representative (USTR) to evaluate the impact of non-reciprocal trade agreements on the US economy. They have been tasked with identifying any potential harm and submitting a report with recommended actions for each trading partner.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Washington, India and the US committed to more than doubling their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. They also aimed to finalize the first phase of a multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall 2025.