India Won't Retaliate Against Trump's Tariff Amid Ongoing Deal Talks: Report

India won't retaliate against US tariffs, due to ongoing trade talks, a government official told Reuters.

India will not retaliate against US tariffs amid ongoing trade deal talks.

Source : PTI

India is not planning to retaliate against US President Donald Trump's 26 per cent tariffs on import from the country, an Indian government official told Reuters, citing ongoing talks for a deal between the two countries. 

The Modi government has looked into a clause of Trump's tariff ord that offers a possible reprieve for trading partners who "take significant steps to remedy non-reciprocal trade arrangements," the official said on condition of anonnimity. 

Another government official said that New Delhi sees itself better placed than Asian peers like China, Vietnam, and Indonesia which have been slapped with higher tariffs by Washington. The offiical also said India sees an advantage in being one of the first nations to have started talks over a trade deal with the US. 

Global markets have bore the brunt and continuing to do so in the aftermath of import tariffs slapped by Trump on several dozen countries. While China and Canada announced reciprocal tariffs, nations like India, Taiwan, and Indonesia ruled out carrying out such counter measures. 

The European Union is also preparing to hit back at US products with extra duties following China's retaliation. 

Last week, CNN reported that Trump was in talks with representatives from India along with Vietnam and Israel as part of efforts to negotiate trade deals. 

The talks were seen as the first wave of negotiations as countries strategised how to respond to Trump.

Market Meltdown 

Asian markets went spiralling down in early trade on Monday as stock market benchmark indices went into a tailspin following Trump's tariffs move. Sensex and Nifty crashed ove 5 per cent in line with a sharp fall in global equities. 

The 3-share Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex tumbled 3,939.68 points or 5.22 per cent to 71,425.01 in early trade. The NSE Nifty crashed 1,160.8 points or 5.06 per cent to 21,743.65.

All the Sensex firms traded in red with Tata Steel dropping over 8 per cent, followed by Tata Motors which cracked more than 7 per cent. HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries were the other big laggards.

Asian markets also witnessed bloodbath on openign on Monday as Hong Kong's Hang Seng tanked nearly 11 per cent, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 plunged nearly 7 per cent, Shanghai SSE Composite index dropped over 6 per cent and South Korea's Kospi index sank 5 per cent.