India-US Trade Deal Seeks to Ease Barriers and Expand Market Access: MEA
- MGMMTeam
- Mar 10
- 3 min read
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday that the proposed India-US trade agreement aims to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, enhance market access, and improve supply chain integration. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal highlighted that discussions between both nations are centered on increasing bilateral trade in goods and services while ensuring a mutually advantageous deal.
“During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States last month, both sides announced that they will engage and negotiate a multi-sector bilateral trade agreement,” Jaiswal said. In response to a question about the Trump administration’s comments on retaliatory tariffs against India, Jaiswal also emphasized Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s recent visit to the US, which was part of ongoing efforts to progress the agreement.
“The two governments are in the process of advancing discussions on a multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement. Through the BTA, our objective is to strengthen and deepen India-US two-way trade in the goods and services sector, increase market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration between the two countries,” he added.
Trump Labels India a "Very High Tariff Nation"
The MEA's statement follows US President Donald Trump's repeated assertion that India is a "very high tariff nation" and his emphasis on the implementation of reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose levies on American goods, starting April 2.
“And the big one will be on April 2, when reciprocal tariffs, so if India or China, or any of the countries that really… India is a very high tariff nation,” Trump, while signing executive orders in the Oval Office on Thursday, stated, according to news agency PTI.
Trump compared India's tariffs to those of Canada and remarked, “I’ll tell you what’s a high tariff nation—it’s Canada. Canada charges us 250% for our milk product and other products, and a tremendous tariff with lumber and things as such. And yet we don’t need their lumber. We have more lumber than they do.”
Trump mentioned that although the current tariffs are "temporary and minor," the forthcoming reciprocal tariffs would be a "major game changer" for the U.S.
“Because we've been ripped off by every country in the world, and now whatever they charge us—they charge us 150-200%—we charge them nothing. So whatever they charge us, we're going to charge them, and there’ll be no getting out of it,” he asserted.
This was the second time in two days that Trump criticized India's tariffs. During his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday—his first since starting his second term—he called India’s tariff policies “very unfair” and declared that reciprocal tariffs would take effect next month.
“If you don’t make your product in America, however, under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff and, in some cases, a rather large one. Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries,” Trump stated in his speech.
He also mentioned, “On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada—have you heard of them?—and countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. It’s very unfair. India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100%.”
India-US Trade Relations
Trump has previously referred to India as the "tariff king" and a significant offender. During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi at the White House last month, he noted that India had been "very strong on tariffs."
“I don’t blame them necessarily, but it’s a different way of doing business. It’s very hard to sell into India because they have trade barriers, very strong tariffs,” he had stated.
Trump highlighted the US trade deficit with India, which he estimated to be nearly USD 100 billion. He stated that he and Modi had agreed to initiate negotiations aimed at addressing the "long-standing disparities" in the US-India trade relationship, with the goal of reaching an agreement.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is currently in Washington for trade discussions with his US counterpart, Howard Lutnick.
As per US estimates, total trade in goods between the US and India reached USD 129.2 billion in 2024. US exports to India were valued at USD 41.8 billion, reflecting a 3.4% increase (USD 1.4 billion) from 2023. Meanwhile, US imports from India amounted to USD 87.4 billion, registering a 4.5% rise (USD 3.7 billion) compared to the previous year. Consequently, the US goods trade deficit with India stood at USD 45.7 billion in 2024, up by 5.4% (USD 2.4 billion) from 2023.
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