US President Donald Trump has indicated that the April 2 reciprocal tariffs will be announced for many more countries than the `dirty 15’ with which the country had the largest trade deficit. But the tariffs would be “kinder” than those countries were to the US, he said.

This may be good news for India. “If reciprocal tariffs are imposed on a large number of countries, it will be favourable for India as it would mean that many of its competitors would also face tariffs making the field level,” a source tracking the matter told businessline.

When asked by reporters on Sunday whether the reciprocal tariffs would be on 10-15 countries, that had the highest trade imbalances, Trump refused to give a number and said it would be on all the countries that were being talked about 

“Essentially all of the countries that we’re talking about. We’d be talking about all the countries… not a cut off,” Trump said.

So far, Trump’s team has focussed on a handful of countries accounting for most of the US’ trade deficit as possible targets of the reciprocal tariffs. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the 15 percent of nations that have trade imbalances with the US the “dirty 15”.

Countries with which the US had the largest trade deficit in 2024 include China, Mexico, Vietnam, Ireland, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada and India.

Trump’s focus

White House Economics Adviser Kevin Hassett said in an interview that the Trump government’s focus would be on 10 to 15 countries, he did not list the countries.

Trump’s other comment on hitting countries buying oil from Russia with tariffs of 25-100 per cent has not yet evoked much response from the Indian government or industry as most are watching if the US President is going to follow it up.

With negotiations on the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement already on, New Delhi has been hoping that it may not face the full brunt of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs right away. “India is looking at extending some tariff cut offers to the US right now with more in the pipeline that would be delivered with the conclusion of the first tranche of the BTA in Fall of 2025. While it is hopeful that the reciprocal tariffs would be deferred on April 2, the top negotiating team from the US that recently visited India for talks did not make any promises,” the source said.

In his media address, Trump said that most countries had been “ripping off” the US like no country had ever been ripped off in history.

Trade imbalances

He talked about historical trade imbalances and focussed on Asia. ”You go to certain places, go to Asia, and you take a look at every single country in Asia, at what they’ve done to the United States in trade... I wouldn’t say anybody has treated us fairly or nicely. But we are going to treat them. We’re going to be much more generous to them in terms of heart,” he said.

In FY24, India exported goods worth $77.51 billion to the US and its imports were worth $42.19 billion leading to a trade imbalance of over $35 billion.

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Published on March 31, 2025