'Trump tariffs offer an opportunity': Piyush Goyal says India-US bilateral trade deal by fall

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on India are an opportunity in disguise.

In a conversation with Firstpost’s Managing Editor Palki Sharma at the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, Goyal said that Trump’s tariffs have opened new opportunities for India and most of the industrial sectors acknowledge this.

Goyal said, “Except for one or two sectors, everybody is very excited. They see good potential going forward. They’re supporting our engagement with the US and, together, they and us will convert this into a great business culture.”

Goyal further said that tariffs and other trade-related issues are also going to addressed by the bilateral trade agreement that should signed by fall.

LIVE: Union Minister @PiyushGoyal speaks to Firstpost's Managing Editor @Palkisu at the #RisingBharatSummit2025. https://t.co/1pq4uTHhtA

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Last week, Trump announced 10 per cent tariffs on all imports and slapped higher tariffs on a select group of countries. He slapped 26 per cent tariffs on India and clubbed the country among the most-tariffed entities with Vietnam (46 per cent), Taiwan (32 per cent), South Korea (26 per cent), and Japan (24 per cent).

As for tariffs on India, Goyal said that the government believes that “India was not one of those countries which really needed to have tariffs on them because we were already in engagement for a bilateral trade deal”.

China is the reason for tariffs, says Goyal

Goyal said that Trump’s tariffs are rooted in the entry of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its misuse by China.

Goyal said that both India and the United States have suffered at the hands of Chinese unfair trade practices.

China joined the WTO in 2001. Critics say that China took the advantage of the WTO’s framework for international trade by bringing in foreign investment and boosting its exports, and therefore boosting its GDP. However, they say China did not open its markets enough for other countries and did not trade fairly. As per an analysis, China’s GDP grew by 49 per cent during 2002-06 compared to 32 per cent during 1997-2001. Even in the 2008 recession, China maintained 43 per cent growth.

Trump is now trying to reset such a system, said Goyal.

“Indian manufacturers, Indian industry, and Indian trade suffered massively. Similarly, the US has suffered massive trade deficits because of the non-market economy that is China because of their predatory pricing or unfair trade practices. I think the United States is trying to reset the rules of the game,” said Goyal.

As for India’s place in Trump’s tariffs regime, Goyal said that India is in a much better place than others to strike a deal as “we are right up front in the queue because we started early”.

In February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first world leaders to hold talks with Trump and trade-related issues are believed to have figured in their discussions.

Goyal further said, “We are in constant engagement and I think we’ll be working with them to take off these additional tariffs in the future. And India has a better deal than some of the other players in the industry. And we are much faster on the block.”