• Nirmala Sitharaman confirmed Piyush Goyal is negotiating with the U.S. to counter tariff threats.
  • Trump’s tariffs start April 2, while both nations push for a $500B trade pact.
  • Indian steel prices may drop, and Tesla's entry faces local resistance over tariff cuts.

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently acknowledged the potential impact of impending U.S. tariffs on Indian exports. She stated that Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is actively engaging with the Trump administration to safeguard India's trade interests.

"We will have to see how the Commerce Ministry handles negotiations with the U.S. to ensure that India’s interests are well-represented," Sitharaman remarked during a post-budget interaction in Visakhapatnam.

President Donald Trump has announced that, starting April 2, the U.S. will implement reciprocal tariffs on countries imposing higher duties on American imports, explicitly mentioning nations like India and China.

Trump criticized these countries for their "very unfair" tariffs, highlighting India's auto tariffs exceeding 100%. He emphasized that the U.S. would match these tariffs to ensure fair trade practices.

"We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on Earth, and we will not let that happen any longer," Trump asserted in his address to Congress.

In response, India and the U.S. have agreed to negotiate the first phase of a multi-sector bilateral trade agreement by the fall of 2025. This initiative, dubbed "Mission 500," aims to boost bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

The agreement seeks to enhance market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration between the two nations.

Moreover, the U.S. is pressuring India to eliminate tariffs on car imports as part of the proposed trade deal, facilitating Tesla's entry into the Indian market.

While India is considering further tariff reductions, there is reluctance to reduce them to zero immediately due to concerns from domestic automakers about increased competition.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah