India has denied reports that it had agreed to greatly lower American import tariffs on products, days after US President Donald Trump insisted that New Delhi had resolved to "cut their tariffs way down."
Since the start of his second term, Trump has transformed international trade policies, going after both allies and competitors with tariffs. Trump has repeatedly targeted trading partners as having engaged in "unfair" trade and announced reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including India, that go into effect next month.
Trump has recently attacked India's "massive tariffs" by saying, "You can't sell anything into India, it is almost restrictive." He went on to assert, "They have agreed, by the way, they want to reduce their tariffs greatly now because somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done."
But The Times of India on Tuesday reported that Indian authorities have made no such assurances to Washington. A parliamentary committee was told that New Delhi has sought time up to September to look into the issue, which has been repeatedly raised by the US president.
India's Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal had said that negotiations with the US were focused on a wider, mutually advantageous trade deal and not merely on instant tariff cuts. "India and the US are negotiating a long-term framework for trade cooperation and not just focusing on immediate tariff changes," Barthwal had said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called on the White House last month, has forged a robust diplomatic relationship with Trump. The President of the US earlier termed their relationship as "special," and Modi stressed that the world's largest and the fifth-largest economies would soon ink a trade pact that would be mutually advantageous for both countries.
Although the US continues to be an important market for India's service and IT sectors, Washington has also ramped up defense sales to New Delhi quite aggressively, striking multi-billion-dollar defense deals in recent times.
Trump could travel to India later this year to participate in a Quad summit, an important forum that includes the United States, India, Japan, and Australia.
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