India Cut On More Than Half of U.S. Imports To Shield Its Exports

The South Asian nation wants to mitigate the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal worldwide tariffs set to take effect immediately, a threat that has disrupted markets and sent policymakers scrambling, even among Western allies.

Under the deal, India is open to reducing tariffs on 55% of U.S. goods it imports that are now subject to tariffs ranging from 5% to 30%, said both sources, who sought anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

In this category of goods, India is ready to “substantially” lower tariffs or even scrap some entirely, on imported goods worth more than $23 billion from the United States, one of the sources said.

India’s trade ministry, the prime minister’s office and a government spokesperson did not reply to mail seeking comments.

Overall the U.S. trade-weighted average tariff has been about 2.2%, data from the World Trade Organization shows, compared with India’s 12%. The United States has a trade deficit of $45.6 billion with India.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s U.S. visit in February, the two nations agreed to start talks towards clinching an early trade deal and resolving their standoff on tariffs.

New Delhi wants to strike a deal before the reciprocal tariffs are announced and Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead a delegation of officials from United States for trade talks from Tuesday.

The Indian government officials warned that cutting tariffs on more than half of U.S. imports hinges on securing relief from reciprocal tax.

The tariff cut decision was not final, with other options under discussion such as sectoral adjustments of tariffs and product-by-product negotiations rather than a wide cut, said one of the officials.

India is also considering wider tariff reform to lower barriers uniformly, but such discussions are in early stages and might not figure immediately in talks with the United States, said one of the officials.

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Benjamin Wallace-Wells

Benjamin Wallace-Wells is a staff writer at the The New Yorker since 2006. He worked for New York magazine, the Times Magazine, and Rolling Stone.

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