“You have 100% tariff from India on American agricultural products,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday. Trump’s spokeswoman also pointed to examples of tariff rates from the European Union, Japan and Canada, signaling those entities are likely among the targets of the president’s new levies. “This makes it virtually impossible for American products to be imported into these markets,” she said.
Her comments come just before Washington unveils Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on April 2, which has kept policymakers around the world on edge. While New Delhi has recently rolled out sweeping cuts to duties on American goods ranging from textiles to motorcycles, the US had asked India to make greater concessions across sectors, including farm.
Also read: India holds firm on agricultural tariffs as US pushes for trade concessions
A US Trade Representative report on foreign trade barriers released Monday underscored India’s high levies structure, including 39% tariffs on agricultural products, eight times what the US charges. The country maintains high applied tariffs on a wide range of goods, including vegetable oils, apples, corn, coffee, raisins and walnuts, it said, using data from 2023.
The report, which is released annually, also said that India has non-tariff barriers such as import bans and licensing requirements in certain some sectors.
While agriculture is a politically-sensitive sector for the South Asian nation, where protesting farmers have earlier demanded suspension of all free trade deals, New Delhi has been been reviewing some US demands. Among the proposals, India is considering lower duties on pecans, pulses and non-genetically modified soybeans, as well as dried distilled grains soluble — a by-product of ethanol production used in animal feed, Bloomberg reported last week.
India has already lowered import taxes on a range of goods, including bourbon whiskey and high-end motorcycles, such as those made by Harley Davidson Inc. The two countries aim to seal a trade deal around around October or November.
(Edited by : Sheersh Kapoor)
