Dr Satish Misra
New Delhi, 08 March– “They want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody’s finally exposing them for what they have done”, the US President said on Friday rubbing salt on the wounds on India’s quick decision to cut tariffs on American products.
India has “agreed” to “cut their tariffs way down”, The US President said while speaking at the Oval Office. Trump said, “India charges us massive tariffs, massive you can’t even sell anything in India. It’s almost… it is restrictive. You know, we do very little business inside. They have agreed, by the way. They want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody’s finally exposing them for what they have done.”
Trump’s remarks came hours after India said it is looking at deepening trade ties with the US including by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers under a bilateral trade agreement.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said that during Prime Minister Narendra Modi
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US last month, both sides announced plans to negotiate a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was in the US and met his counterparts and the two governments were in the process of advancing discussions on a multi-sector bilateral trade pact, he said.
“Our objective through the BTA is to strengthen and deepen India-US two-way trade across the goods and services sector, increase market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration between the two countries,” Jaiswal said.
In his latest statement, the US President, while addressing a joint session of the Congress, mentioned India alongside the European Union, China and Canada for charging higher tariff on American products.
Trump said other countries have used tariffs against the US for decades, and now it’s “our turn” to start using them against those nations.
Modi held talks with Trump on February 13 in Washington DC.
In the meeting, the two sides agreed to negotiate a mega trade deal by the end of this year and set an ambitious target of USD 500 billion in annual trade by 2030 to narrow the trade deficit.
“Recognising that this level of ambition would require new, fair-trade terms, the leaders announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025,” a joint statement on the Modi-Trump talks said.
In its Union Budget for 2025-26, India announced its decision to lower tariff on bourbon whiskey, wines and electronic vehicle (EV) segments — perceived as India’s attempt to placate the US President.
The US strategy under Trump is clearly to put the Modi government on the defensive by applying constant pressure through media giving little room for the Government’s media managers to explain away India’s docile and servile reaction to the US actions.
Trump and his officials by expressing their opinions in the media are also providing ammunition to the opposition which is bound to find US official statements useful to attack the Modi government.
A clear evidence of Trump’s tactics came on Friday when U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told an Indian channel in an exclusive conversation that New Delhi should buy more American oil, gas and defence equipment to bring down the trade deficit that stands at around USD 45 billion in India’s favour.
India needs to buy more defence products and lower its tariffs on U.S. products for the two countries to be able to sign a “grand” bilateral deal, Lutnick stated.
India’s import tariffs, among the highest in the world, warrant a reassessment of its “special relationship” with the United States, Lutnick said, speaking from Washington.
He also asked India to shift defence equipment purchases away from Russia.
Lutnick’s remarks come weeks ahead of U.S. President’s reciprocal tariffs from early April on trading partners, including India, which are worrying exporters across sectors ranging from autos to electronics.
For sensitive industries like agriculture, which India has long shielded to support its small farmers, Lutnick suggested a trade agreement with quotas and limits but emphasised that India must open up the sector.
With the objective of making India more dependent on the US goods specially in the defense sector, Lutnick also asked India to shift defence equipment purchases from Russia to sophisticated U.S. products.
“India has historically bought significant amounts of its military equipment from Russia, and we think that is something that needs to end,” he said.
The U.S. will increase military sales to India starting in 2025 and eventually provide F-35 fighter jets, Trump announced last month after meeting Modi in Washington. India has agreed to buy more than $20 billion of U.S. defence products since 2008.
