Indian conglomerate ITC Limited’s Chairman Sanjiv Puri estimates that India is going to be “better placed” to deal with the Trump tariffs as several free trade agreements (FTAs) are likely to be negotiated between India and the United States, reported the news agency PTI on Tuesday, April 15.
Puri also highlighted that the Indian industries have also been looking forward to the potential upcoming FTAs from the US, the European Union, or the United Kingdom.
“It’s difficult to say how it will evolve, but my own sense is that at the end of it, I think India is going to be much better placed, because we do see the possibility of several FTAs (free trade agreements) being inked, which industry has been looking forward to for some time, hopefully during the year, whether it’s the EU, UK, and, of course, the US, where there is, I think discussions, dialogue happening at a faster rate” said Sanjiv Puri, reported the news agency.
India-US trade talks
India and the United States have been engaged in discussions over a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) since March 2025, and both nations are eyeing the conclusion of the first phase of the talks by September to October this year.
Both nations aim to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by the year 2030. In a bilateral trade agreement, two nations or trading partners decide to either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them.
Puri also said India’s consumption-driven economy may face some short-term uncertainties, however, the nation’s competitiveness, digitisation and future-ready portfolio has more to offer.
“So while short-term uncertainty, unpredictability may be causing some kind of impact on global growth also…a consequent little impact on India will be also there,” said Puri in a fireside chat, reported the news agency.
India’s “more domestic-focused industry” is likely to face some impact due to the US tariffs.
Trump Tariffs
US President Donald Trump imposed ‘reciprocal tariffs’ on several nations, including India, on April 2, 2025. However, later, Trump decided to postpone the implementation of tariffs on all nations except for China.
Trump imposed a total of 145 per cent tariffs on China in response to the Asian nation’s retaliation against the US reciprocal tariffs. However, amid this tariff pause, 10 per cent additional import duty into the United States will continue to prevail.
The reciprocal tariffs have been postponed until July 9, 2025.
