NEW DELHI,April 5,2025
US President Donald Trump is "actively negotiating" trade deals with India, Vietnam, and Israel as the deadline for new tariffs looms. This comes after the Trump administration announced a 10% tariff on all imports into the US, which will begin this Saturday, and even steeper tariffs would be introduced on April 9.
Meanwhile, India has not confirmed any information regarding these talks. But the central government said it is "carefully examining" the situation on the tariffs.
"The Department of Commerce is carefully examining the impact of the different actions and declarations made by the USA President. In accordance with the vision of Viksit Bharat, the Department is coordinating with all the stakeholders, including Indian industries and exporters, to take their feedback on the tariffs and assess the situation. The Department is also looking at possible opportunities that could emerge from this new US trade policy," the statement added.
In a "Liberation Day" address, Trump advocated for significant reciprocal tariffs, claiming the U.S. had suffered economic exploitation. He pointed to existing tariffs like 34% on Chinese, 26% on Indian, 20% on EU, 25% on South Korean, 24% on Japanese, and 32% on Taiwanese goods as examples.
Upon making these mutual tariffs, Trump said, "Every country is calling; they will do anything for us." While his son Eric alluded to the negotiations and said, "The first to negotiate will win - the last will absolutely lose."
"I wouldn't wish to be the last nation to try negotiating a trade agreement with @realDonaldTrump. The first will win - the last will lose absolutely. I have watched this happen my whole life…," he stated.
In contrast to China, India did not react with any matching tariffs.
Trump berated Beijing for retaliating against his tariff policies, accusing China of "panicking" after he unveiled a 34% additional levy on all Chinese imports, following a previous 20% tariff intended to stem fentanyl shipments.
While calling on affected nations not to panic but to dialogue, he also targeted nations such as Canada and China for opting to retaliate rather than negotiate.
"China made a mistake, they panicked - the one thing they cannot afford to do!" Trump declared.
India, meanwhile, has yet to adopt a soft approach with the announcement of jointly planned 'Mission 500', which has the target of increasing bilateral trade more than twofold to $500 billion by 2030.
The announcement was made at a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Donald Trump during the latter's visit to the US earlier this year.
