India has “enormously high” tariffs that lock out imports, U.S. President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday, adding that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a lot to discuss with Trump when the two leaders meet soon.
Trump believed the U.S. should impose reciprocal tariffs that are at least equal to those imposed by other countries, Hassett said in an interview with CNBC, adding, “If they go down, we’ll go down.”
“Almost every trading partner has much higher tariffs than we do,” he said, noting that Canada, Mexico and Britain had tariffs in the same range as the U.S.
President Donald Trump is expected to introduce new 25% tariffs later on Monday on all steel and aluminium imports into the U.S., on top of existing metals duties, in another major escalation of his shake-up of trade policy.
As the risk mounts of a multi-front trade war, the European Union flagged it may retaliate and Trump promised further announcements on Tuesday or Wednesday of broader reciprocal tariffs to match those of countries importing U.S. goods.
Modi -Trump meeting on cards
After concluding the France visit PM Modi will depart for the US to meet with President Donald Trump and interact with senior leaders of the US administration.
This will be the first meeting between the two leaders after President Trump assumed office for his second term. Previously, PM Modi visited the USA in June 2017 and hosted President Trump for a state visit to India in February 2020. The two leaders have also spoken on the phone twice since November 2024 (on November 6, 2024 and January 27, 2025).