India may negotiate to reduce impact of U.S. tariffs

India may escape serious damage from the tariffs set to be imposed by the Trump administration on April 2. This is due to ongoing negotiations and a lack of clarity on how these tariffs will be implemented. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted there could be delays before the tariffs take effect, allowing time for negotiations. He stated that on April 2, countries will receive tariff numbers reflecting their own trade practices, which opens the door for discussions aimed at reducing or avoiding tariffs altogether. While tariffs generally mean matching import rates to what other countries charge the U.S., India’s higher average tariffs on American goods have raised concerns. Analysts predict that India, along with Thailand, could see tariff increases of 4 to 6 percentage points. Despite Bessent’s encouraging comments, a White House official clarified that any negotiations to avoid tariffs must happen before April 2. This indicates that while the details of the tariffs are still being finalized, the intention is to implement them as planned. India is currently in discussions with the U.S. about a Bilateral Trade Agreement and has not directly addressed the issue of reciprocal tariffs. The two sides hope to finalize these negotiations soon, especially following positive talks between Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal and U.S. officials. The complexity of implementing these reciprocal tariffs is significant. U.S. officials are tasked with recalculating tariff rates for over 17,000 products for each country, making this a complicated and time-consuming process. Experts have expressed doubt that structuring these tariffs will be straightforward. Overall, the situation remains uncertain, with contradictory messages suggesting that the tariff policy is still in a state of flux as the April 2 deadline approaches.