U.S. could ease India tariffs after Trump calls Modi

The U.S. may soon scrap the penal import tariff on Indian goods and also cut the reciprocal tariff to 10-15% from the existing 25%, India’s Chief Economist Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said on Thursday.

“My personal confidence is that in the next couple of months, if not earlier, we will see a resolution to at least to the extra penal tariff of 25%,” Nageswaran said at an event in Kolkata.

“It may also be the case that reciprocal tariff of 25% may also come down to levels, which we were earlier anticipating somewhere between 10% and 15%.”

India and the U.S. held “positive” and “forward-looking” trade discussions on Tuesday, New Delhi said, raising hopes for a breakthrough after President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs on the South Asian nation for buying Russian oil.

Trump slapped a punitive 25% levy on India from August 27, doubling overall tariffs to 50%, as part of Washington’s efforts to step up pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they spoke by phone on Tuesday with the U.S. president saying he thanked Modi for his help in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Neither gave any detail of any agreement on Ukraine, but the call appeared to be a sign of further thawing of U.S.-Indian tensions, which blew up in recent months raising questions about the future relationship between the partners, which share concerns about China.

Trump also struck a more conciliatory tone in statements last week and expressed optimism that they could finalise a trade deal.

Indian stocks extended gains after Nageswaran’s comments on easing trade tensions, with the benchmark Nifty 50 hitting one-week highs and notching it’s highest close since July 9.

—Swati Bhat, Reuters