New Delhi: A day before the US is set to announce reciprocal tariffs, President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday (April 1) that India will “substantially” reduce its tariffs, along with other US allies.
“I think I heard that India just a little while ago is going to be dropping its tariffs very substantially and I said why didn’t somebody do this a long time ago,” said Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, reported Indian Express.
Trump further dismissed concerns that his policy of reciprocal tariffs could push US allies closer to China.
“No, I’m not worried about it. I think they have a chance of doing better actually with the tariffs. It can actually help them in a certain way and I think a lot of them will drop their tariffs because they’ve been unfairly tariffing the United States for years,” said Trump.
USTR report highlights trade barriers, criticises ‘Make in India’ policy
Meanwhile, the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report published by the US Trade Representative, has highlighted several trade barriers and has criticised India’s “Make in India” policy which reserves contracts for domestic suppliers, reported Livemint.
The US has said that as a result of contracts being reserved for domestic suppliers in India, foreign firms are at a disadvantage.
The report also criticised various Indian trade barriers, from “localised internet shutdowns that disrupt commercial operations” to regulations saying that “dairy products intended for food must be derived from animals that have not consumed feed containing blood meal,” reported Indian Express.
“The Indian government has leveraged this flexibility, increasing tariffs on approximately 70 product categories in the 2019/2020 budget and on 31 categories in 2020/2021, including key US exports,” said the report.
In the past. Trump has repeatedly singled out India as one of the countries imposing “massive” tariffs.
Trump has termed April 2 as “Liberation Day,” and has said that the US will be freed from from its reliance on foreign goods after his administration imposes “reciprocal tariffs” to match the duties that other countries charge on American products.
