reciprocal tariffs | Govt intends to protect exporters’ interest

Informist New Delhi

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in the US currently to discuss trade relations and the Indian government is awaiting what comes out of Goyal's discussions there, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday in response to a question on how the government intends to protect the interests of Indian exporters as the US plans to rollout reciprocal tariffs. 

"At the moment, based on the information that we have and also the commerce ministry having some consultations with some stakeholders, the minister has gone to the US to initiate some discussions," Sitharaman said at a post-Budget interaction with tax professionals and other stakeholders in Andhra Pardesh.

"The ineterest of all our exporters is documented with the commerce ministry and so we'll have to see how the ministry is taking up the negotiations there. All of us are constantly giving information and sharing inputs to protect the interset of Indian exporters. Lets see what comes out of the negotiations."  

The US is set to impose reciprocal tariffs on India and several other nations from Apr. 2 based on the duty levied by them on American goods. Goyal, who will return from the US on Friday, is likely to meet the US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. At the meeting, Goyal may discuss provisions of the proposed trade deal and also ask the US government to delay the imposition of tariffs on India.  

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also visited Washington and met US President Donald Trump. The two leaders had agreed to negotiate a multi-sectoral bilateral trade agreement and set a target of taking their trade to $500 billion by 2030. Both the sides have set the aim to conclude the first tranche of the deal by December. 

The US is India's top export destination, with its share in the country's total merchandise exports at about 17%. In 2023-24 (Apr-Mar), India exported goods worth $77.52 billion to the US and had a trade surplus of $35.32 billion.

Meanwhile, Sitharaman and Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Thursday launched the New Credit Assessment Model based on the scoring of digital footprints of MSMEs. The Finance Minister had announced as part of her Union Budget 2024-25 that public sector banks (PSBs) will build their in-house capability to assess MSMEs for credit, instead of relying on external assessment.