Trump's Tariff Deadline: Amid Silence, Jaishankar Says Piyush Goyal Working on US Trade Deal

New Delhi: A day after US president Donald Trump announced that reciprocal tariffs against India are set to come into effect from April 2, there has been virtual silence from India on the matter.

Trump's announcement comes weeks after prime minister Narendra Modi visited the US and while commerce minister Piyush Goyal is in the US on an unscheduled visit, to discuss a bilateral trade agreement.

When external affairs minister S Jaishankar was asked about tariffs at a session at the Chatham House think tank in London, he only spoke of Goyal's Washington visit.

“We had a very open conversation about it [tariffs] and the result of the conversation was that we agreed on the need of a bilateral trade agreement,” Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar's session made news because he said that the conflict in Kashmir is “mostly solved” and that India was waiting for Pakistan to “return the stolen part” of the territory.

Trump's decision to announce sweeping tariffs has led to severe criticism and retaliation from China, Canada and Mexico. In addition to complaints at the World Trade Organization against the tariffs, China and Canada have also announced counter tariffs on US imports. Mexico has said it will announce the list of goods by March 9.

Among BRICS countries, Brazil has promised to react to tariff impositions.

In contrast, India had announced tariff cuts on bourbon, wines, motorcycles, and electric vehicles.

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