With Opposition parties seeking an explanation on US President Donald Trump’s claim of India agreeing to cut its tariffs “way down”, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is likely to brief Parliament on his recent visit to Washington DC for talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US, sources have said.

“Negotiations on the BTA are set to begin, so the government is fast-tracking work on a list of items such as cars, motorbikes and electronics, where tariff cuts can be offered to appease the US. It is also putting together lists of sensitive items to protect farmers and vulnerable sections and of offensive asks,” a source tracking the matter told businessline. 

Pressure on India

Trump and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick publicly upped pressure on India to commit to stiff tariff cuts across the board late last week after Goyal concluded his trade talks with his US counterparts. 

While Trump said that India had agreed to bring tariffs way down as somebody was finally exposing them, Lutnick insisted that agriculture can’t be off the table.

“In light of the US President’s statement, we want the government to go on record about what it has committed to the US,” Congress leader Manish Tewari told businessline.

In a post on social media platform `X’ Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh sought to know if the interests of Indian farmers and Indian manufacturing were being compromised.

There is also no clarity on whether the US threat of imposing reciprocal tariffs on April 2 will continue once the negotiations for the BTA begin.

India’s tariffs on US goods are at a much higher 15.30 per cent (2022) than US tariffs on Indian products at around 3.83 per cent. The US was India’s largest trading partner in FY24 with exports worth $77.51 billion and imports worth $42.19 billion.

(With inputs from Poornima Joshi)

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Published on March 9, 2025