India will take all necessary steps to safeguard and promote national interest, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said , a day after US President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs plus a penalty on domestic exports to America from August 1
According to PTI, In a suo motu statement in both the houses of Parliament, he said the government was examining the implications of these tariffs and is engaged with all stakeholders including exporters and industry for taking feedback of their assessment of the situation.
“The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, exporters, MSMEs and all sections of industry. We will take all necessary steps to secure and advance our national interest,” he said.
US President Donald Trump had earlier announced the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from India starting August 1, plus an unspecified penalty for buying Russian crude oil and military equipment.
The surprise announcement came amid a US trade team visiting India from August 25 for the sixth round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement.
Goyal’s remarks are important as India has hardened its stance on giving duty concessions to the US on agriculture and dairy sectors — a key demand of America in the trade talks with India.
New Delhi has never opened the dairy sector in any of its earlier signed free trade pacts. The agri sector is a politically sensitive for India as about 700 million rural livelihoods are dependent on it. Lowering duties would also pose risk to national food security.
The two countries have been negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) since March with an aim to more than double the bilateral trade in goods and services to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion. So far five rounds of talks have been completed.
For the sixth round, the US team is visiting India from August 25. They are aiming to conclude the first phase of the agreement by fall (October-November) this year. The two sides are also looking at an interim trade deal before the BTA.
