Amid Trump's tariff threat, govt says talks on for bilateral trade agreement

NEW DELHI: With US President Donald Trump again threatening to impose reciprocal tariffs on India, the govt on Friday reiterated its commitment to the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and said both sides were in the process of taking the negotiations forward. India also sought action from US authorities against the banned Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) group.

According to the govt, the two sides are working to build a framework for the BTA, which would aim to expand trade, enhance market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration.

"In this endeavour, our commerce and industry minister had visited the US from March 3-7, where he met with the US commerce secretary, as also the US trade representative. The Govt of India remains engaged with the US administration at various levels to arrive at a mutually beneficial multi-sector bilateral trade agreement," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

India believes both sides have their legitimate interests and sensitivities and its ongoing talks for the BTA with the US should be seen in the context of its reduction of tariffs significantly for key developed countries like Australia, UAE, Switzerland and Norway, under recently concluded mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreements.

Separately, minister of state for commerce and industry Jitin Prasada told Rajya Sabha in a written reply that "as on date, there has been no imposition of country-specific, including reciprocal tariffs by US on India".

He said there has been imposition of additional duties on steel and aluminium imports by US from all countries without any exemption and the impact of these duties were being closely evaluated.

Asked about US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's meeting with defence minister Rajnath Singh, in which the latter had asked the US to ban the India-proscribed SFJ group, the external affairs ministry said India expects "appropriate action" from US authorities.

"During a meeting with her interlocutors in India... on our side we conveyed our concerns regarding anti-India elements, anti-India activities of secessionist elements in Washington, and it is our expectation that the US side will take appropriate action in this regard," Jaiswal said.

He said PM Narendra Modi had conveyed similar concerns about anti-India activities in New Zealand in a meeting with PM Christopher Luxon. "And it is our hope that we will receive support from the New Zealand side in tackling these issues, which are of concern to us," the official said.