US President Donald Trump has claimed that India would be “dropping its tariffs very substantially” as he gears up for ‘Liberation Day’. The remarks came hours after White House accused certain countries of unfair trade practices and claimed they were “ripping the US off” — including a 100% tariff imposed by India on American agricultural products.
“I think a lot of (countries) will drop their tariffs because they’ve been unfairly tariffing the United States for years…I think I heard that India, just a little while ago, is going to be dropping its tariffs very substantially. I said, why didn’t somebody do this a long time ago. A lot of countries are going to be dropping their tariffs,” Trump said while answering questions in the Oval Office on Monday.
The Donald Trump administration has repeatedly heralded April 2 as ‘Liberation Day in America’ — with several countries including India likely to be impacted by sweeping ‘reciprocal’ tariffs. A recent clarification from the POTUS also suggests that the US would “start will all countries” from Wednesday — rather than the so-called ‘Dirty 15’ as previously indicated by top US officials.
Meanwhile the Commerce Ministry in India is reportedly working on different scenarios to counter the possible fallout from tariffs. According to a PTI update quoting sources, the government is currently preparing different scenarios amid continued uncertainty about the quantum and the manner in which the US is planning to impose the tariffs. India and the US are also working on a bilateral trade agreement to promote two-way commerce and investments.
Indian exports to the US span 30 sectors — with six in agriculture and 24 in industry. Each is likely to face different tariff impacts on the basis of the tariff gap between the two countries. Experts have stated that agri sectors could be impacted more due to the imposition of reciprocal tariffs on a wide range of products including fish, meat, processed seafood, shrimp, sugar, cocoa, rice, spices, dairy products, edible oils, wines, and spirits.
(With inputs from agencies)