Commerce ministry official on Donald Trump's 27% reciprocal tariff on India: 'Mixed bag, not a setback'

Hours after US President Donald Trump announced a 27% reciprocal tariff on India, a government official on Thursday said the commerce ministry was analysing the impact of the import duties, reported PTI.

"The ministry is analysing the impact of the announced tariffs," the official said, adding there is a provision that if a country would address the concerns of the US, the Trump administration can consider reducing the duties against that nation.

India and the US have held several rounds of talks to negotiate a bilateral trade deal, aiming to finalise the first phase by September or October this year, with a goal of $500 billion in trade by 2030.

"It is a mixed bag and not a setback for India," PTI quoted the official as saying.

According to the official, the universal 10% tariffs will come into effect on all imports into the US from April 5 and the remaining 16 per cent from April 10.

Trump described the rate as a “discounted” reciprocal tariff, citing India’s 52% average duties on US products, including what he called currency manipulation and trade barriers.

"This is Liberation Day, a long-awaited moment. 2nd April 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again. We are going to make it wealthy, good, and wealthy," Trump said on Wednesday in remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House.

Trump signed the executive order titled ‘Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits’ in the White House’s Rose Garden on Wednesday.

“India, very, very tough,” Trump said, referring to a recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “He’s a great friend of mine, but I said, ‘You’re not treating us right.’ They charge us 52%.”

A White House fact sheet and a chart displayed by Trump detailed tariffs imposed by India and other nations like China (7.5%), the European Union (5%), and Brazil (11.2%), alongside the new reciprocal US levies.

Industry body ASSOCHAM said that India stands less impacted by the reciprocal tariffs than the rivals.

"India has been placed somewhere in the middle of the tariff rates at 26% in addition to 10% baseline duties, which needs to be assessed for real impact," said ASSOCHAM President Sanjay Nayar.

"Net-net, it appears India's export competitiveness to the US market stands far less impacted on a relative basis. Yet our industry should make concerted efforts to increase export efficiency and value addition, to mitigate impact of these tarriffs." he added.