Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal informed a Parliamentary panel that India made no commitments on trade tariff reductions to the United States.
Barthwal’s statement came in response to US President Donald Trump’s assertion that India has agreed to bring its tariffs ‘way down’.
Briefing the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, The Commerce Secretary clarified that negotiations between India and the US were ongoing and that no trade agreement had been finalised.
With many members of the Parliament panel raising concerns over Donald Trump’s claim of India having agreed to reduce tariffs, Barthwal said, “One cannot go by the US President’s claims and on media reports as the bilateral trade agreement talks between the two nations are still on. India has not committed to anything on trade tariffs to the US”.
The bureaucrat also asserted the interests of India would be taken care of during the trade negotiations. Barthwal said, “India was in favour of free trade and wanted liberalisation of trade, which will help increase trade between the two countries”.
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