India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal embarked on a trip to the United States on Monday to engage in trade discussions, according to two government officials, with only a few weeks remaining before President Donald Trump’s proposed reciprocal tariffs take effect.
Goyal’s journey was unexpected, as he left after postponing appointments previously set for March 8, the officials noted. He also holds the portfolio for industry.
The Indian trade ministry did not immediately reply to an email request for a statement.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the United States, both countries committed to initiating the first phase of a trade agreement by the fall of 2025, with the goal of achieving bilateral trade totaling $500 billion by 2030.
Trump’s plan to impose reciprocal tariffs starting in early April on trade partners, including India, has raised concerns among Indian exporters across various sectors, from automobiles to agriculture, with Citi Research analysts predicting potential annual losses of around $7 billion.
Goyal aims to gain a clearer understanding of U.S. reciprocal tariffs to evaluate their effects on India, one government source mentioned, and may also explore possible Indian concessions and a trade agreement to lower tariffs and enhance bilateral trade.
India is willing to discuss reduced tariffs on manufactured goods, such as automobiles and chemicals, but is resisting calls to decrease tariffs on agricultural products, asserting that this would adversely affect millions of impoverished farmers, according to sources.
To alleviate trade tensions, India has already lowered tariffs on several goods, reducing rates on high-end motorcycles from 50% to 30% and on bourbon whiskey from 150% to 100%, while also committing to review additional tariffs and increasing energy imports along with purchasing more defense equipment.
India’s merchandise trade with the United States, which is its largest trade partner, has grown by approximately 8% year-on-year, surpassing $106 billion in the ten-month period ending in January, while India continues to have a trade surplus.
See more: Trump Plans to Announce New Trade Tariffs.
Experts suggest that sectors such as chemicals, metal products, and jewelry – followed by automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and food items – are the most at risk from potential U.S. reciprocal tariffs.
Should the United States broaden its reciprocal tariffs to include a wider array of agricultural commodities, India’s agricultural and food exports, such as shrimp and dairy products—where tariff differences approach 40%—would be severely impacted, according to a report from the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a think tank based in Delhi.
