Industry and economists have expressed concerns over the US government’s decision to levy a 25% tariff along with a “penalty” on Indian exports, starting August 1.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, FICCI said that it’s “disappointed” by the US’ decision. “While this move is unfortunate and will have a clear bearing on our exports, we hope that this imposition of higher tariffs will be a short-term phenomenon and that a permanent trade deal between the two sides will be finalised soon,” said Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, President, FICCI.
India has been actively negotiating a BTA with the US since the start of the year, and we understand that there had been some specific demands from the US side which are not in our national interest and therefore Indian government has not given in to those demands from the US. “Also, the US team is coming to India in latter half of August to further discuss on the BTA. We are hopeful that the two sides will make progress in their discussions and complete the negotiations by the September-October 2025,” said Agarwal.