WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump says he’s not looking at lowering tariffs on India, one week after the US doubled levies on the country’s imports to 50% as punishment for its Russian oil imports.
Trump responded "no” when asked by a reporter whether he is considering taking away some of the tariffs imposed on India.
"We get along with India very well,” Trump added Tuesday (Sept 2) at a White House event, but criticised what he said was an imbalanced trade relationship with New Delhi because of high Indian levies.
"India has, you have to understand, for many years, it was a one-sided relationship,” he said.
"India was charging us tremendous tariffs, about the highest in the world.”
The US tariffs on India came despite months of negotiations between New Delhi and Washington and stunned officials in the Asian nation. India’s high tariffs and protectionist policies have exasperated US trade negotiators.
Trump set a 25% duty on Indian exports but doubled that level to 50% last week as punishment for purchases of Russian oil. Those levies hit more than 55% of goods shipped to the US, which is India’s biggest market.
Trump has expressed frustration over India’s continued purchases of Russian energy, which New Delhi has justified as necessary to keep its oil prices low.
Critics say such energy buys by India and China help keep Russia’s economy afloat and undercut sanctions against Moscow aimed at reining in the country’s military machine and bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.
India’s government has decried the tariffs as unfair, saying it will continue purchasing Russian oil as long as it remains financially advantageous.
On Tuesday, India also challenged US duties on certain copper products at the World Trade Organization, arguing that the high levies constitute trade restrictions that hurt its exporters. These copper tariffs are separate from the 50% duties.
The US president said he was "watching very closely” to see how Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed efforts to set up a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart and insinuated he was considering additional measures if talks did not progress.
Trump on Monday said that India had offered to cut its tariffs "to nothing” in a social media post, without saying when that offer was made or whether the White House plans to reopen trade talks with India.
"It’s getting late. They should have done so years ago,” Trump said on Monday.
Still, analysts say there are signs both sides are keeping the door open to resolving tensions. On Tuesday, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said he hopes to finalise a trade deal with the US by November.
"We’ve had a little bit of a geopolitical issue overtaking trade issues in our negotiations with the US,” he said during a virtual address at an investor conference.
"I do hope things will get back on track soon and will conclude a bilateral trade agreement by fall.” - Bloomberg
