India seeks trade deal as Trump’s 50% tariffs on imports take effect over Russian oil purchases
Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said New Delhi is engaged in dialogue with Washington for a potential bilateral trade agreement
NEW YORK, United States (MNTV) – Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said New Delhi is engaged in dialogue with Washington for a potential bilateral trade agreement, even as tensions rise over steep US tariffs on Indian goods.
“Unfortunately, certain countries have chosen to forgo the agenda of sustainability,” Goyal remarked while addressing the ongoing trade standoff.
Indian exports to the United States are currently subject to 50% tariffs, following the failure of the two sides to finalize a trade deal and India’s continued purchase of Russian oil. The Indian minister confirmed that negotiations for a trade agreement are ongoing but stressed that the tariff burden has created significant challenges for Indian exporters.
The Trump administration’s tariffs, which took effect late last month, include a 25% baseline duty on Indian goods—imposed earlier after the collapse of bilateral trade talks—and an additional 25% penalty targeting India’s refusal to halt Russian oil imports. Together, the measures have pushed the effective tariff rate to 50%.
India has strongly criticized the US move, describing the surcharge as “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.”
Goyal’s comments came just a day after US President Donald Trump once again lashed out at New Delhi, calling the two countries’ trade relationship a “totally one-sided disaster.” Trump claimed India had recently offered to reduce its tariffs to zero but argued the offer came “too late” and should have been made years earlier.
“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us. In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods—we are their biggest client—but we sell them very little. Until now, it has been a totally one-sided relationship, and it has been for many decades,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He further accused India of imposing excessively high tariffs, the highest of any country, making it nearly impossible for American businesses to compete in the Indian market. “It has been a totally one-sided disaster,” Trump said, adding that India continues to rely heavily on Russian oil and defense imports while buying “very little” from the United States.
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