Piyush Goyal to Visit US Again for Trade Tariff Negotiations: More Compromise by India on the Cards?

New Delhi: Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal is likely to visit the United States soon again amid the Trump administration’s decision for sweeping levies on India such as reciprocal tariffs, which are set to take effect from April 2.

Goyal visited the US last week. However, Washington DC seems to have rejected New Delhi’s offers so far. 

The commerce and industry ministry is working on improved offers on import tariff cuts to the US which it will table in the next round of consultations with Washington DC as the initial proposals discussed by Goyal last week with his counterparts were considered inadequate by the Americans, businessline reported, quoting sources.

According to a report by The Indian Express, representatives from sectors including automobiles, leather, textiles, electronics and pharmaceuticals, among others, are expected to present their stance on tariff concessions that may be considered in the next round of trade negotiations with the US.

Meanwhile, businessline reported that the US wants wider and deeper concessions and wants agriculture on the table too.

According to a report by the SBI Economic Research Department, dated February 17, India’s tariffs on US goods stood much higher at 15.30% compared to US tariffs on Indian products at 3.83%, as of 2022.

Also read: Think Tank Chief Urges Withdrawal From US Trade Deal; India Remains on US ‘Watchlist’ For IP Issues

The Modi government has been in damage control mode ever since the Trump administration announced that it was considering imposing reciprocal tariffs on import of American goods. Trump has repeatedly singled out India as one of the countries imposing “massive” tariffs.

On Friday, March 7, while addressing the media in the Oval Office, Trump once again raised the issue of India imposing “massive” tariffs and added, “They’ve agreed – by the way, they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody’s finally exposing them for what they’ve done.”

His remarks on Friday were the latest in a series of criticisms, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last month, where both sides had agreed to finalise a bilateral trade deal addressing “concerns.” The first tranche of this deal is to be negotiated before fall this year.

The remarks also sparked a response from the opposition. “Why have you surrendered India’s national and strategic interests? What was your minister Piyush Goyal doing in the US when President Trump announced that India has agreed to reduce tariffs? Isn’t suffering reciprocal tariffs better than lowering our own after reciprocal tariffs have already been imposed?” Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera asked at a press conference.

Meanwhile, amid tariff uncertainties, the finance ministry is considering the implementation of the incentives for MSME exporters, announced in this year's Union budget under the export promotion mission, within a month.

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