US President Trump Says India Has Agreed To Cut Tariffs: 'Exposed Them For What They Have Done'

President Trump announces India's agreement to lower tariffs after criticising country's 'very high tariffs'.

US President Donald Trump said India has agreed to cut tariffs.

Source : ANI

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that India has agreed to cut their tariffs "way down" after he earlier said that the country was a "very high tariff nation." 

"...India charges us massive tariffs. Massive. You can't even sell anything in India," Trump said. "They have agreed, by the way; they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done," he added. 

Justifying the tariff threat on Canada, China, Mexico, and India, set to take effect from April 2, Trump said, "Our country has been ripped off by everybody and that stops now. I had it stopped in my first term and we're going to really stop it now because it has been very unfair. Our country from an economic standpoint, a financial standpoint and a trade standpoint, has been absolutely ripped off by almost every country in the world."

India-US Trade Agreement 

Trump's remark came hours after a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said the proposed India-US trade agreement seeks to lower tariff, and non-tariff barriers, expand market access, and strengthen supply chain integration. 

Jaiswal further stated that the discussions between both sides are focused on boosting two-way trade in goods and services while ensuring a mutually beneficial agreement.  

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States last month, both sides announced that they would engage and negotiate a multi-sector bilateral trade agreement,” Jaiswal said. 

In reply to a question on the Trump administration's remarks over retaliatory tariffs against India, Jaiswal highlighted Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s recent visit to the US as part of ongoing efforts to advance the agreement. 

“The two governments are in the process of advancing discussions on a multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement. Through the BTA, our objective is to strengthen and deepen India-US two-way trade in the goods and services sector, increase market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration between the two countries,” he added.