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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025

 

--Sources:Minister Goyal to leave for US Wed for talks on reciprocal tariffs

--Sources: Goyal to bat for delay in imposition of reciprocal tariffs by US

--CONTEXT: Goyal returned from US Fri after talks on reciprocal tariffs

 

By Krity Ambey

 

NEW DELHI - Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will leave for Washington late Wednesday for another round of talks with the US administration on the proposed reciprocal tariffs, people aware of the matter said. This will be Goyal's second visit to the US in a week.

 

Goyal, who returned from Washington on Friday, had met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last week. In the upcoming visit, Goyal is likely to pitch for delay in imposition of reciprocal tariffs by the US on India. 

 

"The minister went (to the US) with a tariff proposal last week, got some feedback, accordingly made modifications to it," one of the people in the know said. "He is going with an improved proposal this time."

The US President Donald Trump has announced that Washington would impose from Apr. 2 reciprocal tariffs on India and several other countries, based on the duty levied by them on American goods. US' reciprocal tariffs on India may entail a duty hike of at least 5% on Indian goods, as US goods face a weighted average tariff of 7.7% in India, while Indian exports to the US face only 2.8% average tariff currently.

During his visit, Goyal may also discuss the terms relating to the first tranche of the proposed trade agreement with the US. In February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also visited Washington to meet President Trump. The two leaders had agreed to negotiate a multi-sectoral bilateral trade agreement and set a target to take their trade to $500 billion by 2030. Both sides have set the aim to conclude the first tranche of the deal by fall season.

 

Delhi has been focussing on improving its trade relations with Washington after President Trump's Republican Party won the US election. Trump has expressed displeasure over India's trade policies at several instances in the last five months. In his latest remark last week, Trump said that New Delhi was willing to cut tariffs massively after his government "exposed" India.

 

The US is India's top export destination, with its share in the country's total merchandise exports at about 17%. In 2023-24 (Apr-Mar), India exported goods worth $77.52 billion to the US and had a trade surplus of $35.32 billion.  End

 

US$1 = INR 87.29

 

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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