US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday expressed hope that Washington and New Delhi will finally discover widespread floor on commerce, emphasizing that the world’s largest democracy and the world’s largest financial system are in the end certain to return collectively.
His remarks got here because the Trump administration’s 50% tariffs on Indian imports got here into impact right now, additional escalating commerce tensions between the 2 international locations.
“Ultimately of the day, we are going to come collectively. India is the world’s largest democracy and the US is the world’s largest financial system,” he stated in an interview with Fox Enterprise.
Based on an evaluation by the Indian Council for Analysis on Worldwide Financial Relations (ICRIER), Trump administration’s tariffs now cowl practically 70% of India’s exports to the US, value about USD 60.85 billion. As per the specialists, exporters extremely depending on the US market could face quick challenges as a result of tariffs.
President Donald Trump, who had earlier dubbed India a “tariff king”, justified imposing 50% tariff citing the commerce imbalance in addition to New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian crude oil and defence gear.
In response, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that his authorities would take steps to guard small entrepreneurs, farmers and livestock farmers from any antagonistic influence. Through the current monsoon session of Parliament, Commerce and Business Minister Piyush Goyal additionally stated the federal government was intently finding out the implications of the tariff hike and would take all crucial steps to guard nationwide pursuits.
About 30% of India’s exports to the US, together with prescribed drugs, electronics and choose classes, will proceed to get pleasure from duty-free entry, however the tariffs are anticipated to hit labour-intensive sectors arduous. Merchandise comparable to iron and metal, aluminium, passenger automobiles, semi-finished copper and key minerals, nevertheless, will stay exempt from the tariffs.