India, US seek to bring parity in duties to avoid Trump's reciprocal tariffs: Report

Under his “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” expected to kick in from April 2, US President Donald Trump is set to levy tariffs on countries that impose high duties on American goods.

In a significant move, Indian and US officials involved in the ongoing trade negotiations focused on bringing parity between the tariffs imposed by both the countries on each other’s goods, a report by Mint said on March 27.

The move was aimed to avoid reciprocal tariffs that the US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose on the world starting from April 2, the newspaper said.

Officials from both the countries focused on bringing the duties levied by India on US goods to the same level as the tariffs on New Delhi’s exports, Mint said.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

India, in response, sought some relief on US compliance for certain products, including shrimps, processed foods, pharmaceuticals among others, the paper said.

Moneycontrol on March 26 reported that New Delhi might reduce basic customs duties on US imports of crude oil and diamonds, and lower tariffs on automobiles under the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

Under his “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” expected to kick in from April 2, US President Donald Trump is set to levy tariffs on countries that impose high duties on American goods.

US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch arrived in India on March 25 for a four-day visit to hold another round of trade negotiatons with Indian counterparts.