NEW DELHI: President Donald Trump on Tuesday said India may be hit with a tariff of 20-25% – a little lower than the 26% reciprocal tariff announced in April – but cautioned that the final levy had still not been finalised as the two countries negotiate a trade deal ahead of an Aug 1 deadline.“I think so,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday when asked if that was a possible tariff rate for New Delhi.“India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country,” Trump said aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from a five-day visit to Scotland. “You just can’t do that.”With a 20-25% levy, which will include a 10% baseline tariff, India will be better placed than Bangladesh, with which it’s competing for a share of the textiles market. But several others, including Vietnam (20%) and Indonesia (19%) are better placed, along with the EU and Japan (15% each) and the UK (10%). Chinese imports into the US currently face 30% customs duty.
India-US trade deal: American officials to visit New Delhi in August
In recent weeks, the US has announced trade deals with several partners — from Japan and Indonesia to the European Union — but has failed to arrive at a common ground with India, which has steadfastly refused to lower levies on farm and dairy products, while holding firm on not allowing genetically modified agricultural products to enter India.India and the US are engaged in talks for the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement by Fall (Sept-Oct), with an American team of officials scheduled to visit New Delhi starting Aug 25.US trade representative Jamieson Greer had said on Monday that the US needed more time for talks with India to gauge the country’s willingness to open its market more to American exports.
