By Shakir Husain
NEW DELHI, April 3 (Bernama) -- India is "carefully examining" the implications of US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs as Indian exporters expressed fears over their impact on key industries.
The Ministry of Commerce, in a statement on Thursday, said it is "engaged with all stakeholders," including Indian industry and exporters, and taking feedback on their assessment of the tariffs.
As India and the US are discussing a multi-sectoral bilateral trade agreement, the Indian government is "also studying the opportunities that may arise due to this new development in the US trade policy".
On Wednesday, the US president announced a 26 per cent tariff on goods being imported from India into the US, and Trump unveiled reciprocal tariffs in the range of 10-49 per cent for various countries to address the American trade deficit.
"India imposes their own uniquely burdensome and/or duplicative testing and certification requirements in sectors such as chemicals, telecom products, and medical devices that make it difficult or costly for American companies to sell their products in India.
“If these barriers were removed, it is estimated that US exports would increase by at least US$5.3 billion annually," the White House said in a statement.
Highlighting the tariff rate difference, the US said it imposes a 2.5 per cent tariff on passenger vehicle imports while India's rate is 70 per cent.
On apples, the US has no duty, but India imposes a 50 per cent tariff, while on network switches and routers, the US imposes a zero per cent tariff compared with India imposing a 10 per cent tax on similar products.
While the Indian official reaction to the US tariff move was muted, exporters are concerned.
"Reciprocal tariffs in the range of 10 per cent are manageable but beyond that will have serious implications on Indian exporting community, particularly MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises)," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president S.C. Ralhan was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
India's benchmark market indexes ended lower on Thursday, with the BSE dropping 322 points, or 0.42 per cent, and the NSE declining 82.2 points or 0.35 per cent.
Speaking in parliament, India's Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said the US tariff of 26 per cent is going to "completely devastate our economy", adding that the automobile and pharmaceutical industries are "on the line".
-- BERNAMA
