No trade talks for now: Trump; Goyal says ‘not bowing down'
'No, not until we get it resolved,' Trump said at the Oval Office when asked about increased trade negotiations with India, following his August 7 executive order that doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50%—among the highest levied on any US trading partner.
Assistant US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch is expected to visit India on August 25 for another round of trade talks, with both sides having invested months of intensive negotiations pursuing a bilateral agreement.
Trump's initial 25% reciprocal tariff took effect on Thursday, and an additional 25% penalty for purchasing Russian energy is slated to kick in after August 27.
Even as Trump closed the door on immediate negotiations, commerce minister Piyush Goyal delivered a defiant response, declaring India 'will never bow down in front of anyone' while vowing to protect farmers and small businesses from tariff impact.
'The country's morale is very high with immense domestic capabilities to convert adversities into opportunities,' Goyal said at the Business Today India@100 Summit in New Delhi, citing India's response to the Covid pandemic as an example of national resilience.
'When rich countries denied vaccines to India during the pandemic period, we not only manufactured our own vaccines and vaccinated 250 crore Indians free of cost but we also gave vaccines to the poor countries,' he said in tacit reference to current global disruptions from US punitive tariffs.
Indian negotiators led by special secretary Rajesh Agrawal visited Washington from July 14-17 but left without concluding an agreement.
The stalemate contrasts with Trump's recent diplomatic success, with his administration announcing trade agreements with the EU, Japan, and Indonesia while talks with India remained deadlocked.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick have stated Trump seeks wider market access commitments from India, particularly in agriculture and dairy sectors New Delhi has refused to open. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called India 'recalcitrant' on market access concessions while reiterating White House concerns about Russian energy purchases.
The tariffs threaten most of India's $86.5 billion annual exports to the US, though exemptions for electronics, pharmaceuticals, and energy products protect an estimated 45-50% of bilateral trade.
India has called the tariffs 'unjustified and unreasonable' whilst arguing Western countries maintain extensive trade relationships with Russia.
Goyal dismissed deglobalisation concerns, arguing countries are 'restructuring their trade routes and partners.'
'I am quite confident this year, India will do more exports than we did last year,' he said, citing recent free trade agreements with the UK and European Free Trade Association as evidence of India's expanding global partnerships.
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