India will hold off on tariff measures

Despite any US tariffs, India to tweak them only in trade deal

- Rajeev Jayaswal

India will not rush to reduce import duties on American goods despite retaliatory tariffs from Washington expected in the early hours of Thursday, two officials aware of the matter said, stating any response to the announcement expected overnight will likely be part of the bilateral trade deal being discussed by the two countries.

US President Donald Trump was expected to make the tariff announcement past midnight India time, with no official confirmation of the new American trade policy available till the time of going to print.

"India will avoid any knee-jerk reaction, especially at a time when the two countries are negotiating a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement (BTA)," one of the two officials said.

Reports in the US media in the run-up to Wednesday's announcement stated that the Trump administration was considering an across-the-board 20% import duty on all items.

Earlier in the week, Trump claimed India would be "dropping its tariffs very substantially" ahead of his 2 April announcement. "I think I heard that India, just a little while ago, is going to be dropping its tariffs very substantially.