Carefully examining implications of Trump tariffs: Commerce Ministry

The Department of Commerce is carefully examining the implications of the various measures and announcements made by the US President Donald Trump, according to a press communiqué issued by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

“Keeping in view the vision of Viksit Bharat, the Department is engaged with all stakeholders, including Indian industry and exporters, taking feedback of their assessment of the tariffs and assessing the situation,” the ministry said, adding that the commerce department is also studying the opportunities that may arise due to this new development in the US trade policy.

The US President issued an executive order on reciprocal tariffs imposing additional ad-valorem duties ranging from 10% to 50% on imports from all trading partners. The baseline duty of 10% will be effective from April 5, 2025 and the remaining country specific additional ad-valorem duty will be effective from April 9, 2025. The additional duty on India as per the executive order is 27%.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on February 13, 2025, announced ‘Mission 500’ – aiming to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 Billion by 2030. “Accordingly, discussions are ongoing between Indian and US trade teams for the expeditious conclusion of a mutually beneficial, multi-sectoral Bilateral Trade Agreement. These cover a wide range of issues of mutual interest including deepening supply chain integration,” it said.

The commerce ministry said the ongoing talks are focused on enabling both nations to grow trade, investments and technology transfers. “We remain in touch with the Trump Administration on these issues and expect to take them forward in the coming days,” it said.

“India values its Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the United States and is committed to working closely with the US to implement the India-US ‘Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology’ (COMPACT) for the 21st century to ensure that our trade ties remain a pillar of mutual prosperity and drive transformative change for the benefit of the people of India and the US,” said the ministry.

Earlier on Thursday, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the government will study and evaluate the latest tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump and then respond. “US President Trump believes in 'America First', PM Modi believes in 'India First'. We will evaluate and study the tariffs and then decide how the country will deal with it,” Chaudhary told reporters.