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India could face tariffs as high as 25% if it fails to finalise a trade deal with the US this week, President Donald Trump has said. <\/p>\n
“Yeah, I think so,” he told reporters on Tuesday when asked whether Delhi would face higher tariffs in the absence of an agreement. <\/p>\n
The US has set a 1 August deadline for India and several other countries to either reach a trade agreement or face increased tariffs.<\/p>\n
Indian and American officials have been negotiating a trade deal for the past few months, but officials have alternated between sounding optimistic and cautious about when it will be announced. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
When asked about what he expected from a potential deal with India, Trump said: “We’re going to see. India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country”. <\/p>\n
“But now I’m in charge, and you just can’t do that,” he added.<\/p>\n
The BBC has reached out to India’s commerce ministry for a comment.<\/p>\n
Tariffs are taxes charged on goods imported from other countries. The US president has repeatedly taken aim at India’s high tariffs, branding it a “tariff king” and a “big abuser” of trade ties. <\/p>\n
Trump has not yet sent a letter to India setting a new tariff rate – as he has with more than a dozen other trading partners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Back in April, Trump had announced tariffs of up to 27% on Indian goods, which was later paused.<\/p>\n
Since then, both sides have been racing to negotiate an agreement, with officials sometimes sounding positive and at other times, measured.<\/p>\n
“We continue to speak with our Indian counterparts. We’ve always had very constructive discussions with them,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said earlier this week.<\/p>\n
He also acknowledged that although he had earlier said a deal with India might be “imminent”, it needed to be understood that Delhi’s trade policy has been “protectionist for a very long time<\/a>” and has been “premised on strongly protecting their domestic market”. <\/p>\n Greer added that Trump has been focused on securing deals that substantially open other markets to the US.<\/p>\n Agriculture and dairy are among the key sticking points for both countries.<\/p>\n For years, Washington has pushed for greater access to India’s farm sector, seeing it as a major untapped market. But India has fiercely protected it, citing food security, livelihoods and the interests of millions of small farmers.<\/p>\n Last week, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told CNBC that the agriculture sector is sensitive for India<\/a> and that it will make sure that farmers’ interests are “well protected”. <\/p>\n Goyal also told news agencies that India remains “optimistic” about striking a deal with Washington soon.<\/p>\n Speaking to Reuters, he said that India was making “fantastic progress” in talks with the US and that he hoped they were able to “conclude a very consequential partnership”. <\/p>\n Until recently, the US was India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn in 2024. Trump and Modi have set a target to more than double this figure to $500bn.<\/p>\n India has already reduced tariffs on a range of goods – including Bourbon whiskey and motorcycles – but the US continues to run a $45bn (\u00a333bn) trade deficit with India, which Trump is keen to reduce.<\/p>\n Follow BBC News India on <\/i>Instagram<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>YouTube,<\/i><\/a> <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a> and <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n