Latest news with #India-USABilateralTradeAgreement
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Trump vows 'very substantial' tariff hike on India within 24 hours
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he would raise tariffs on Indian imports 'very substantially' within the next 24 hours, citing New Delhi's ongoing imports of Russian oil. 'They're fueling the war machine, and if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy,' Trump told CNBC in an interview. He also criticised India's existing tariff structure, calling it the primary point of contention. Trump, however, did not specify what the revised tariff rate would be. "We'll be putting an initially small tariff on pharma," he added. Trump's tariff threat comes hours after India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that it is actively involved in the discussions with the US, with the aim of expanding trade and investment. "Government of India is actively involved in the discussions on the India-USA Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the Government of the United States with the aim to expand trade and investment and deepening the India-US trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation," said Jitin Prasada, minister of state for Commerce & Industry, in response to a question by Lok Sabha member Kodikunnil Suresh. India defends oil purchase Earlier on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a sharp rebuttal to Trump's threat of imposing higher tariffs on Indian goods, calling the criticism over Russian oil imports 'unjustified and unreasonable'. The ministry stressed that India's energy ties with Russia are driven by national "necessity" and are far smaller in scale compared to trade between Russia and the West. 'India has been targeted by the United States and the European Union for importing oil from Russia after the commencement of the Ukraine conflict. In fact, India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict,' the MEA said in a statement on Monday. The ministry also recalled that, at the time, Washington had actually welcomed India's move to purchase Russian oil. 'The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy market stability,' it noted. Data cited by the MEA further underlined the imbalance in criticism. The European Union recorded €67.5 billion in goods trade with Russia in 2024, and an additional €17.2 billion in services trade in 2023 -- far higher than India's total trade with Moscow.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
India, US 'actively involved' in trade talks: Govt a day after MEA rebuke
Hours after issuing a strong response to the United States' (US) threat of additional tariffs, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday said that it is actively involved in the discussions with the US, with the aim of expanding trade and investment. "Government of India is actively involved in the discussions on the India-USA Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the Government of the United States with the aim to expand trade and investment and deepening the India-US trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation," said Jitin Prasada, minister of state for Commerce & Industry, in response to a question by Lok Sabha member Kodikunnil Suresh. He added that the Centre has held five rounds of talks with the US between March and July 2025. The next round of talks is scheduled later this month in India. This follows a scathing response from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) a day earlier to US President Donald Trump's threat of higher tariffs on Indian goods for importing Russian oil. The MEA labeled Trump's criticism as 'unjustified and unreasonable,' stating that India's energy relations with Russia are based on national necessity and remain significantly smaller than Russia's trade with Western countries. 'It is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," the MEA said in a statement on Monday. Agricultural safeguards Suresh also asked a question about the Centre's assessment of the proposed free trade agreement's (FTA) impact on small farmers, and steps to protect India's agricultural interests. Responding to it, the minister said that international trade negotiations allow for the inclusion of sensitive, negative, or exclusion lists—categories of goods on which limited or no tariff concessions are granted. "In addition, in case of surge in imports and injury to the domestic industry, a country is allowed to take recourse to trade remedial measures such as anti-dumping and safeguards on imports within the periods as mutually agreed to by the parties under FTAs," he added.
