NEW DELHI, Feb 27 (Reuters) – India wants to secure the best trade deal with the U.S. to ensure it has an edge over competitors, India’s trade minister said on Friday, as the fate of deals finalised by Washington remain uncertain after President Donald Trump’s tariffs were invalidated.
New Delhi will wait and watch how the Trump administration proceeds on tariffs but remains keen to engage for the “best possible opportunities” in a deal with the U.S., minister Piyush Goyal told broadcaster CNN-News18.
Goyal discussed trade and economic partnership with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over lunch in New Delhi on Thursday, a meeting that came as a surprise as Lutnick’s private visit to India had not been publicised.
Earlier this week, Trump warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals with the U.S. after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs and weakened his legal authority to impose sweeping global tariffs.
Since the order, Trump has announced a temporary 10% duty on all nations, including India, and promised to raise it to 15% – the maximum allowed under the statute he has resorted to.
The path forward for Trump’s foreign trade deals remained uncertain, with China urging Washington to scrap tariff measures, the EU freeze on its approval and India delaying planned talks.
Goyal said he would not put a timeline on completing trade deals. New Delhi and Washington had previously planned to sign a legal agreement in March.
India has delayed plans to send a trade delegation to Washington last week, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the tariffs.
Prior to the ruling, both countries had agreed on a framework for Washington to cut tariffs on India to 18% from 50% – a rate that previously included a 25% punitive tariff for New Delhi’s Russian oil purchases.
(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya; Editing by YP Rajesh)
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