Trump says India may lower tariffs on US goods, calls IMEC 'powerful group of trade partners'

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he has a "very good relationship" with India but criticised the country's high tariffs on American goods.

In an interview with Breitbart News, Trump singled out India's trade barriers, calling it one of the "highest tariffing nations in the world."

He said India would "probably be lowering those tariffs substantially" ahead of an April 2 deadline set by his administration for reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose higher duties on American exports.

"I believe they're going to probably be lowering those tariffs substantially, but on April 2, we will be charging them the same tariffs they charge us," Trump said.

The US has been India's largest trading partner from 2021 to 2024, with bilateral trade in goods and services reaching $190.08 billion in 2023. India maintains a $43.65 billion trade surplus with the US, exporting $83.77 billion in merchandise while importing $40.12 billion.

The White House recently highlighted disparities in tariffs, noting that India imposes an average 39% duty on agricultural products compared to the US's 5%, and a 100% tariff on American motorcycles versus Washington's 2.4% on Indian bikes.

India has lowered some tariffs, reducing duties on high-end motorcycles from 50% to 30% and on bourbon whiskey from 150% to 100%, but resisted cuts to agricultural tariffs to protect its small farmers.

Trump also discussed the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), a trade initiative he signed the US onto during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington.

Seen as a counter to China's Belt and Road Initiative, IMEC includes India, the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE, the European Union, France, Germany, and Italy. It features two corridors: an east corridor linking India to the Arabian Gulf and a northern corridor connecting the Gulf to Europe via a railway network, supplemented by cables for electricity and digital connectivity and pipelines for clean hydrogen.

"We have a powerful group of partners in trade," Trump said, describing IMEC as "a group of wonderful nations that is countering other countries that look to hurt us on trade."

He added that the US often fares better with "foes" than with allies like the European Union, which he accused of treating America "terribly on trade," alongside India despite its friendly status.

The ones that wouldn’t be as friendly to us in some cases treat us better than the ones that are supposed to be friendly, like the European Union, which treats us terribly on trade. India and everybody would think of them as an ally. I can say the same for others. But this is a group of wonderful nations that is countering other countries that look to hurt us on trade.”

India has pledged to reassess tariffs while boosting US energy imports and defence purchases as part of ongoing trade talks.