As the April 2 deadline for reciprocal tariffs by US President Donald Trump approaches, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government is closely watching the ongoing trade negotiations with the US.
She defended India’s tariff structure, saying that it aims to protect the domestic industry and does not violate WTO norms. She maintained that India’s interests “will be at the top” in the negotiations with the US.
Exporters interest
Addressing a post-Budget interaction in Visakhapatnam, Sitharaman said Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has gone to the US to negotiate with the US Trade Representative and insisted that Indian exporters’ interests will be protected.
“Reciprocal tariff is something that the US President has been speaking about. Goyalji has already gone to the US. He will be talking with the US Commerce Secretary and the USTR. Based on these negotiations, we will take a call. Before going, he had had a lot of consultations with stakeholders. It is only when we progress through these negotiations that we will be able to assess. But we will keep Indian exporters’ interest in mind,” Sitharaman said.
To protect industry
She said tariffs are a legitimate instrument of trade policy.
“What prevails today as tariffs are all very different counts — one to protect your own industry which we will continue to protect. It is also a question of our exports and the possibility of our exports reaching newer markets. We are at a stage of development where our industry has to grow. You will tend to make sure that it is as per the WTO norms, whatever is the trade tariff, it is consistent with WTO norms. Now, we come to a bilateral relationship where the discussions between two countries are concerned; when we talk about India and the US, they will take care of their interests and we will keep India’s interests on top and see how the talks are taken forward,” said the FM.
While Sitharaman said Goyal has held consultations before he departed for the US, sources here said that data-sharing and consultations between various line ministries and industry groups have been continuing even while the Minister is in Washington DC.
In communications sent to some industry bodies, businesses have been tasked to identify India’s offensive and defensive asks with the US. In the area of offering concessions on tariff lines, which is Trump’s biggest demand, the government is collecting information on items where there is a possibility of tariff elimination, tariff reduction, provision of tariff rate quotas and removal or lowering of minimum import price.
NTBs, duties list
A list of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) faced by India in the US market and by American products in India along with data on countervailing and anti-dumping duties are being updated.