India on Friday declined to give a straight response to US President Donald Trump’s reiteration that Washington will impose reciprocal tariffs on this country from April 2, saying the two countries are negotiating a mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
“India and the US are in the process of taking bilateral trade negotiations forward. The two governments are actively working to build a framework for the BTA, which would aim to expand trade, enhance market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing.
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He was responding to President Trump’s remarks suggesting India will face reciprocal tariffs on April 2, a move likely to hurt the country’s exports of agricultural and pharmaceutical goods.
”I have a very good relationship with India, but the only problem I have with India is that they are one of the highest tariffing nations in the world. I believe they are probably going to be lowering those tariffs substantially, but on April 2, we will be charging them the same tariffs they charge us,” The American leader said in an interview.
The Indian spokesperson said the government of India remains engaged with the US administration at various levels to arrive at a mutually beneficial multisector bilateral trade agreement.
He said Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was in the US earlier this month and held talks with top American officials to discuss technical details of the proposed trade accord between the two nations.
