India under pressure as Trump claims victory in tariff dispute

INDIA's government faces mounting questions after US president Donald Trump claimed the country has agreed to "cut tariffs way down" ahead of his 2 April deadline for imposing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners.

The controversy erupted after Trump's remarks from the Oval Office, where he accused India of charging "massive tariffs" that make it "almost restrictive" to sell American goods in the country.

"They've agreed to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody's finally exposing them for what they've done," Trump declared.

Opposition Congress party leaders have seized on the comments, with general secretary Jairam Ramesh demanding prime minister Narendra Modi clarify India's position when Parliament resumes on Monday (10).

"What has the Modi government agreed to? Are the interests of Indian farmers and of Indian manufacturing being compromised?" Ramesh wrote on social media platform X.

The party described Trump's comments as an "insult" to India's sovereignty and called for an all-party meeting to ensure "national interest remains paramount" in trade negotiations.

The diplomatic tension comes amid commerce minister Piyush Goyal's recent visit to Washington for talks with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and trade representative Jamieson Greer.

Lutnick stressed that India has "some of the highest tariffs in the world" and urged the country to lower duties on American goods to forge an "extraordinary relationship" between the nations.

Meanwhile, Indian government sources have defended any potential tariff reductions, insisting they should be viewed as part of broader efforts to advance trade with developed nations through bilateral agreements. They pointed to similar arrangements India has made with Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and Norway, rather than a response to Trump's pressure.

Last month, during Modi's visit to Washington, both countries agreed to negotiate the first stage of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by year's end. The US is already India's largest trading partner, with trade reaching $118.2 billion (£93.1 bn) last financial year.

India's external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the country is "looking at deepening trade ties with the US including by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers under a bilateral trade agreement."

Trump has previously labelled India a "tariff king" and a "big abuser." During his first joint address to Congress as president, he promised to impose reciprocal tariffs from 2 April on countries with "unfair" trade policies, specifically mentioning India among others.

"India charges us tariffs higher than 100 per cent... The system is not fair to the US; it never was. On April 2, reciprocal tariffs kick in. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them," Trump warned.

(with inputs from PTI)