{"id":355336,"date":"2025-07-30T10:15:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T15:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=355336"},"modified":"2025-07-30T23:51:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:21:07","slug":"india-responds-to-trump-says-will-take-all-steps-necessary-to-secure-indias-national-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/india-responds-to-trump-says-will-take-all-steps-necessary-to-secure-indias-national-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"India responds to Trump, says \u2018will take all steps necessary to secure India\u2019s national interest’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is India\u2019s first official statement on the issue<\/em>; Trump on Tuesday said imports from India might be hit with a tariff rate of 20 to 25 per cent as the trade agreement between the two nations has not yet been finalised yet. \u201cI think so,\u201d he said when asked if 20-25 percent would be a possible tariff rate for India. Later he announced 25 per cent tariffs beginning August 1<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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File Photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Responding to US President Donald Trump imposing \u201c25 per cent,\u201d tariff on India, the Narendra Modi government today said it will take all \u201csteps necessary\u201d to secure the country\u2019s national interests as it has been the case with other trade agreements including the latest Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the UK. In a short but clear statement issued late evening, the Ministry of Commerce said that the \u201cGovernment has taken note of a statement by the US President on bilateral trade.  The Government is studying its implications.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is India\u2019s first official  statement on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndia and the US have been engaged in negotiations on concluding a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement over the last few months. We remain committed to that objective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Government will take all steps necessary to secure our national interest, as has been the case with other trade agreements including the latest Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the UK,\u201d according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry headed by Piyush Goyal. Earlier External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Goyal after Trump\u2019s initial statement of 20-25 percent tariffs on India on the sidelines of the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament, sources said <\/p>\n\n\n\n

August 1 is the deadline for implementation of reciprocal tariffs on various trading partners, including India. The deal remains unfinalised despite several rounds of discussions and any further delays could negatively impact the Indian economy and stock market but sources in know of developments say that for a government which is facing backlash on Trump\u2019s repeated claims on brokering ceasefire between India and Pakistan, it needs to be extra caution while finalising the deal in mind the interests of people, especially the farmers   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently India and the United\u202fKingdom made history by officially signing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) which is projected to elevate bilateral trade by $34\u202fbillion annually. At a time when the India-US trade agreement was facing uncertainties, CETA was described as India\u2019s most ambitious pact with a Western country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Trump said<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump on Tuesday said that imports from India might be hit with a tariff rate of 20 to 25 per cent as the trade agreement between the two nations has not yet been finalised yet. Travelling back to Washington after a five-day visit to Scotland, Trump told reporters on-board the Air Force One \u201cI think so,\u201d when asked if 20-25 per cent would be a possible tariff rate for India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  \u201c\u2026India is my friend. They ended the war with Pakistan at my request\u2026 India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country. You just can\u2019t do that,\u201d Trump was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later he announced 25 per cent tariffs beginning August 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

August-1 deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming just ahead of the August-1 deadline for the implementation of reciprocal tariffs on various trading partners, including India, Trump\u2019s comments are significant. Sources familiar with the developments say that Trump may speak with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the final nod to the long-anticipated deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Indian equity benchmark indices\u2014Sensex and Nifty\u2014traded higher on Wednesday, there continues to be a lingering uncertainty over the much-delayed agreement. Gold and silver prices also remained bullish in the domestic futures market on the back of persistent uncertainty over the deal, driving investors into safe-haven assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump in April announced increased tariffs with an objective to reduce the US’ trade deficit, which he later paused at a reduced 10 % till negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agricultural products and genetically modified crops remain some of the main sticking points from the India side. A key point of contention is America\u2019s insistence on greater access to Indian markets for its agricultural, dairy, and GM products, India argues that such access could negatively impact the livelihoods of its farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US is pushing for reduced tariffs on its industrial goods, electric vehicles, dairy products, wines, apples, etc Some farmer groups are also urging the government to exclude agriculture from the agreement entirely. The tariffs on Indian products could hurt India\u2019s export as the US is India’s top export destination with nearly 20 per cent share in the country’s total outbound shipments. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is India\u2019s first official statement on the issue; Trump on Tuesday said imports from India might be hit with a tariff rate of 20 to 25 per cent as the trade agreement between the two nations has not yet been finalised yet. \u201cI think so,\u201d he said when asked if 20-25 percent would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":355345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15917,15084,36],"tags":[18841,18477,15700,18342,19726],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355336"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355348,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355336\/revisions\/355348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/355345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}