United States President Donald Trump stated that India has agreed to significantly reduce its tariffs, reiterating his longstanding criticism of the country’s trade policies, which he claims create barriers for American goods.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Friday, Trump claimed that the United States had been taken advantage of economically by numerous nations over the years.
“Our country, from an economic, financial, and trade standpoint, has been absolutely ripped off by almost every country in the world,” he said.
Highlighting India’s tariffs, Trump added, “India charges us massive tariffs, massive. You can’t even sell anything into India. It’s almost restrictive. It is restrictive. We do very little business inside.”
Trump asserted that recent negotiations have led to progress.
“They’ve agreed, by the way, to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody’s finally exposing them for what they’ve done. The same applies to China, many other countries, and even the European Union, which has also been a terrible abuser of this country,” he said.
These comments came shortly after Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to the U.S., where he engaged in trade discussions with his American counterpart, Howard Lutnick. This marks the third instance in a week where Trump has targeted India’s tariff policies.
Earlier in the week, Trump labelled India as a “very high-tariff nation” and reaffirmed plans to implement reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose duties on American goods, effective April 2.
Addressing a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Trump criticised what he called “unfair” tariffs imposed by India and other nations.
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During past interactions, Trump has referred to India as a “tariff king” and a “big abuser.” In a press conference alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he remarked, “India has been very strong on tariffs. It’s very hard to sell into India because they have trade barriers, very strong tariffs.”
In response, Indian officials emphasised ongoing efforts to deepen trade relations with the U.S. Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s External Affairs Ministry, announced that both countries are exploring a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) aimed at reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, improving market access, and strengthening supply chain integration.
Commerce Minister Goyal’s recent discussions in the U.S. included steps toward advancing these bilateral trade talks.
“Our objective is to expand two-way trade across goods and services, reduce barriers, and enhance mutual economic opportunities,” Jaiswal said.
