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Will safeguard national interest: India’s Commerce Minister on Trump’s tariff threat
The announcement comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed the tariffs would take effect on Aug.1, along with an unspecified “penalty.”
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Malvika Choudhary - Thu, 31, Jul 2025
- 10:50 EDT
- 25
Piyush Goyal in the Indian Parliament / Sansad TV
India is assessing the implications of the United States’ decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on Indian imports and will take all necessary steps to safeguard national interest, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament on July 31.
“The government gives utmost priority to the safeguarding of welfare of farmers, labourers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, exporters, MSMEs and stakeholders of the industrial sector. We will take all necessary steps to safeguard our national interest,” Goyal said.
Also Read: Trump says US does very little business with India, almost none with Russia
Goyal confirmed that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is holding consultations with exporters and other industry stakeholders to assess the potential fallout of the tariff hike, which comes into effect on Aug. 1.
“The government is examining the impact of the recent events. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is holding talks with exporters, industries and all stakeholders and gathering information on their assessment of this issue,” Goyal said during a seven-minute address to the Indian Parliament.
The statement follows a sharp escalation in trade tensions after Trump’s remarks on July 30, where he criticized India’s economic and geopolitical alignment, saying, “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.”
Goyal did not respond to these comments, instead focused on India's economic rise over the last decade under the Modi government. He highlighted that India has moved from being part of the so-called "Fragile Five" economies to becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy.
“Through its reforms and MSMEs and industry’s efforts, we are currently the fourth largest economy and will in a few years become the third largest economy,” he said.
Citing international recognition of India’s economic performance, Goyal said India now contributes to 16 percent of the global economy. He reiterated the government’s commitment to initiatives such as ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India).
Outlining the chronology of developments leading to the new tariff regime. He said Trump had issued an executive order in April to implement reciprocal tariffs, starting with a 10 percent baseline duty.
“With a 10 percent baseline tariff, a total of 26 percent tariff was announced for India. The full country-specific additional tariffs were scheduled to come into effect on April 9, 2025. But on April 10, this was initially suspended for 90 days and then extended till Aug. 1,” Goyal stated.
He said that following the announcement, India and the U.S. initiated discussions toward a mutually beneficial trade agreement, with negotiations ongoing since March. “On March 29, representatives of the two countries conducted the first physical meeting and finalised the Terms of Reference, following which four physical meetings and several virtual meetings were held,” he said.
He also noted that India has signed Free Trade Agreements with several countries, including the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Australia, and is pursuing similar agreements with others.
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