Indian govt responds to Trump’s 25% tariffs and additional penalty

The Indian government on Wednesday, July 30, issued a measured response to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 25% trade tariff on Indian goods, effective 1 August, along with an additional undisclosed penalty related to trade and defence ties with Russia.

“The Government has taken note of the statement by the US President on bilateral trade and is studying its implications. India and the US have been engaged in negotiations over the past few months to conclude a fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement. We remain committed to this objective. The Government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The Government will take all necessary steps to secure our national interests, as it has done with other trade agreements, including the recently concluded Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the UK,” the statement said.

President Trump, meanwhile, took to Truth Social to comment, “While India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high—among the highest in the world—and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country.”

India and the US teams concluded the fifth round of talks on the agreement last week in Washington. India’s chief negotiator and Special Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Rajesh Agrawal, and Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, Brendan Lynch, led the discussions.

Sources told CNBC TV18 that the US trade delegation is expected to visit India in the second half of August for the sixth round of Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations.

Indian markets are anticipated to respond unfavorably to the US decision to impose tariffs on Indian imports, said Nilesh Shah, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra AMC, on Wednesday, 30 July.