Trump tariff: India’s strict testing rules for chemicals, medical devices hurt US exports, says White House

India’s strict regulations on chemicals, medical devices, and telecom products are making it harder for US companies to do business in the country, the White House said in a ‘fact sheet’ statement, highlighting trade imbalances, as Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs took effect.

The fact sheet, titled ‘President Donald J. Trump Declares National Emergency to Increase our Competitive Edge, Protect our Sovereignty, and Strengthen our National and Economic Security’ also mentioned that if the barriers like testing and certification requirements are done away with, the US exports would see an uptick by at least $5.3 billion annually. Trump tariff LIVE Updates

“India imposes their own uniquely burdensome and/or duplicative testing and certification requirements in sectors such as chemicals, telecom products, and medical devices that make it difficult or costly for American companies to sell their products in India. If these barriers were removed, it is estimated that U.S. exports would increase by at least $5.3 billion annually,” the White House statement said.

What did the fact sheet say about India?

The trade imbalance fact-sheet mentioned that the United States imposes a 2.5% tariff on passenger vehicle imports, while India, with 70 per cent tariff, imposes much higher duties on the same product.

“For networking switches and routers, the United States imposes a 0 per cent tariff, but India (10-20 per cent) levies higher rates,” it said, adding, “For rice in the husk, the US imposes a tariff of 2.7 per cent, while India (80 per cent)… imposes higher rates.” Also Read | Is motormouth US President pushing world economy towards de-globalisation? Explained with five examples

“Apples enter the United States duty-free, but not so in India (50 per cent),” the White House said.

Trump tariffs on India come into force today

The United States on Thursday announced 27 per cent reciprocal tariffs or import duties on Indian goods that will enter American markets.

Indian goods now face a 25 per cent tariff on steel, aluminum, and automobiles. For other products, a baseline 10 per cent tariff will apply from April 5-8, increasing to a country-specific 27 per cent starting April 9.

(With agency inputs)