US reciprocal tariffs unlikely to impact India much; may create opportunities: Niti Aayog Official

New Delhi: The US plan to impose reciprocal tariffs will not have much impact on India and create several opportunities for the country, Niti Aayog Programme Director Pravakar Sahoo said on Friday. Compared to Mexico, China and Canada, which account for 50 per cent of America's total imports, India is favourably placed, he added.."We are looking at the data at a very dis-segregated level...these are preliminary results, but I can just give you the overview that we are not going to lose. This reciprocal tariff is not going to affect except very specific sectors and in fact, there are opportunities to really capture," he added. Sahoo was speaking after the release of the second edition of Niti Aayog's quarterly trade watch. He said that a detailed analysis of the reciprocal tariff plan's impact on India will be presented in the next edition of the report.

The three main competitors in the US market are - Canada, Mexico and China. They account for 50 per cent of the USA's total imports of USD 3.1 trillion. These countries are going to face tariffs in the range of 20-25 per cent. "So, if we compare our position...and post-imposition of these tariffs on our competitors in the US market, we are much much better off," he said. The US has imposed 25 per cent import duties on steel and aluminium products from March 12 and it has also announced a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on completely built vehicles (CBUs) and auto parts, a move set to take effect on April 3. US President Donald Trump has announced imposing reciprocal tariffs in April on America's key trading partners, including India. He has on multiple forums stated that India imposes high tariffs on US goods. The US has already imposed duties on China. A team of US officials, headed by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, is here for negotiations on the proposed bilateral trade agreement with India. The negotiations are likely to conclude on Saturday. India and the US are aiming to conclude the first phase or tranche of the agreement by the fall of 2025 (September-October). They have also set a target to more than double the bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current over USD 190 billion.

After the imposition of duties by the US in 2018, the share of China in US imports has declined. Speaking at the event, Niti Aayog member Arvind Virmani said that five countries gained from that - Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico and India. He suggested looking for trade agreements with those countries with large shares of manufacturing, which are sources of FDI and which are the headquarters of MNCs as they can act as lead anchor investors. "The top countries in this context are the US, EU, Japan, UK and S Korea," he said.