Race against April 2 deadline: For US tariff truce, government mulls 2-pronged strategy

India is examining its import basket to finalise the list of items for which it could build a bespoke — and lower — tariff structure for the US, while it also explores areas where further levy reductions are possible through an extension of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) approach.

The Centre has discussed the minute details of preferential tariff reductions for the US through both a trade pact and on an MFN basis for sectors including agriculture and automobiles — areas that would benefit US exporters were India to reduce tariffs further. To be sure, countries can grant duty cuts to one another’s imports on a preferential basis in a free trade agreement (FTA).

“There have been discussions on giving concessions on the MFN and FTA basis,” said an official, as India and the US aim to conclude the first tranche of their Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall this year.

India Agreed to Cut Duties: Trump
This assumes significance as US President Donald Trump claimed on Friday that India will significantly reduce tariffs on American imports, saying New Delhi imposed “massive” trade barriers and that “somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done”. “India charges us massive tariffs. Massive. You can’t even sell anything in India… 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,” Trump said.

• Artificial Intelligence(AI)

  Java Programming with ChatGPT: Learn using Generative AI

  By — Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and