As the US presses for more balanced trade with its partners, India remains in close communication with the new administration and whatever trade issues are there between the two countries it will be sorted out with talks, a senior official said Friday.
“We have a constructive approach in dealing with trade issues between India and US keeping in view the interest of both countries,” spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal told reporters.
The US runs the highest trade deficit in the world. All its trading partners, barring a handful, export more than they import from the US. The US President Donald Trump has talked of restoring the balance in trade and has come out with a America First Trade Policy Memorandum that tasks the departments dealing with trade and finance to investigate and remedy persistent trade deficits and address other countries’ unfair trade practices.
On its major trading partners the incoming administration has already announced an increase in tariffs. On Mexico and Canada 25% tariffs will be imposed from February. On China 10% tariffs have been announced. While no additional tariffs on India have been announced, Trump has said if BRICS goes ahead with a separate currency then he will impose 100% duties on members of the grouping.
The spokesperson said India and the US have established mechanisms to discuss any trade matter. “We are in continuous dialogue. On trade matters relations between India and US are strong and there is a high-level of trust between the two,” Jaiswal said.
India and the US have already held foreign ministers’ level talks. The first bilateral meeting that the incoming secretary of state Marco Rubio had was with Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar.
At the meeting a wide range of topics, including regional issues and opportunities to further deepen the U.S.-India relationship, in particular on critical and emerging technologies, defence cooperation, energy, and on advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
The US is India’s top trading partner and its biggest market for exports. In 2023 the bilateral goods and services trade was $ 190 billion.