President Trump is concerned about no reduction in import duty on American products in India

08-May-2025 05:24 PM

Washington. During the ongoing talks for a bilateral trade agreement between India and the United States, President Donald Trump expressed concern that India has not reduced customs duties on any American products and has not provided any concrete assurances in this regard.

According to the President, India is one of the countries with the highest import duties globally, and the United States will not accept this situation.

Although India had previously agreed to reduce some duties, no official announcement has been made, nor has India shown efforts to reduce duties for any other country. Trump emphasized that duties on American products must be reduced in India.

India and the US have been in discussions over a bilateral trade agreement for an extended period, with some progress reportedly made.

Officials from the Trump administration have indicated that while talks are underway with several trade partners, an agreement with India might materialize relatively soon, possibly ahead of others.

During the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to the US in February, the proposal for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) was discussed in a meeting with President Trump.

It was mentioned that the current annual trade between the two countries stands at around $190 billion, with the goal of doubling it to $500 billion by 2030, for which a BTA is considered essential.

The US is pushing for India to open its markets completely to American imports, including soybeans, soybean products, and maize, without imposing customs or non-tariff barriers.

However, India is hesitant, particularly because these US crops are genetically modified (GM), and GM crops are currently banned in India.

The Indian government may consider reducing duties on certain US agricultural products such as cotton, almonds, apples, and walnuts. Imports of lentils from the US could also be allowed at concessional or zero duty.