Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday assuaged concerns about the fallout from a possible hike in imports by the US following the re-election of Donald Trump as the US President. He also said that India could consider lowering tariffs on exports from the US for goods where there is no competition such as Harley-Davidson bikes. “We are not worried about tariffs. If it's a tariff hike on China, it only helps India. If it's a tariff hike on everybody, we are all in the same boat. We will still continue to do well. But I personally believe India is looked upon as a trusted partner by the democratic world,” Goyal said on Friday at Business Today's Most Powerful Women 2024 event in Mumbai. He was responding to a question on how he sees Donald Trump's threat of increasing trade tariffs with India impacting the balance of trade. Goyal said that Trump “maybe once or twice may have said that India has very high tariffs”, he has also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has made it clear that he likes India. “Donald Trump has made it very clear that he likes India. He likes the people of India. He wants to expand business with India. He wants to do more trade with India, and he wants to work with his good friend, Prime Minister Modi. So you don't worry,” Goyal said. The minister also highlighted that he had good relations with former US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who was a part of the previous Trump government and is seen as a contender in the new government as well. “It would be great to have him come back as USTR. I'm sure he'll have an important position in the new Trump administration, and I can assure you… we have great times ahead in the India-US partnership,” Goyal stressed.
When asked about a possible duty reduction on the import of Harley Davidson bikes, that Trump has been keen on selling to India, the minister said, “We would have absolutely no problem. Products where there is no competition, where India doesn't we don't manufacture…We don’t manufacture the Harley Davidson sort of heavy bikes, so I would have absolutely no problem in considering a request of that kind,” he said. The US is India’s top export partner with total exports of $ 77.5 billion in FY24 and total bilateral trade was about $ 120 billion. Trump’s economic policy is expected to focus on higher tariffs on all imports to the US including a 10% across the board hike and as high as 60% on those from China.