After US President Donald Trump announced a 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian imports, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday said that they are examining implications of measures/announcements made by the US President. The commerce department has also started consultations with the domestic industry and exporters to gauge the impact of the tariffs announced by the US.
In a press communication released by the ministry, it said, “The Department of Commerce is carefully examining the implications of the various measures/announcements made by the President of the USA. Keeping in view the vision of Viksit Bharat, the Department is engaged with all stakeholders, including Indian industry and exporters, taking feedback of their assessment of the tariffs and assessing the situation. The Department is also studying the opportunities that may arise due to this new development in the US trade policy.”
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Earlier on February 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US president had announced ‘Mission 500’ – aiming to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Accordingly, the ministry said, “…discussions are ongoing between Indian and US trade teams for the expeditious conclusion of a mutually beneficial, multi-sectoral Bilateral Trade Agreement. These cover a wide range of issues of mutual interest including deepening supply chain integration. The ongoing talks are focused on enabling both nations to grow trade, investments and technology transfers.”
Despite the tariff hikes, India is engaged with the US administration to strengthen trade ties. The commerce ministry said, “India values its Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the United States and is committed to working closely with the US to implement the India-US ‘Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology’ (COMPACT) for the 21st century to ensure that our trade ties remain a pillar of mutual prosperity and drive transformative change for the benefit of the people of India and the US.”
India has been working towards appeasing the Trump administration for a few months now. In February, India had announced tariff cuts on motorcycles and bourbon. Basic customs duty on completely built-up (CBU) units was reduced from 50 per cent to 40 per cent for engine capacities up to 1600cc and from 50 per cent to 30 per cent for those above 1600cc.
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