NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump on Friday claimed that India has agreed to cut down tariffs adding that “somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done.” Earlier today, the ministry of external affairs had addressed the tariff threat but made no comments on whether there was any decision on reducing the charges.
“India charges us massive tariffs. Massive. You can’t even sell anything in India…They have agreed, by the way; they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done,” he said.
This comes amidst reports of Tesla eyeing zero tariffs as it is set to enter Indian markets in the coming months. India currently imposes vehicle import duties of up to 110%, a rate Tesla CEO Elon Musk has condemned as among the highest in the world. The steep tariffs previously led Tesla to abandon its plans to enter India’s automobile market, which ranks as the third-largest globally.
Justifying the tariff threat being levied on Canada, China, Mexico and India, set to take effect from April 2, Trump said, “Our country has been ripped off by everybody and that stops now. I had it stopped in my first term and we’re going to really stop it now because it has been very unfair. Our country from an economic standpoint, a financial standpoint and a trade standpoint, has been absolutely ripped off by almost every country in the world.”
India has resorted to a cautious route in the trade war, while Canada, China and Mexico have gone all out with slapping reciprocal tariffs on the US and filing complaints with the World Trade Organisation.
“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,” the MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.