President Trump told reporters that India may be hit with a tariff rate of 20% to 25% and cautioned that the final levy still hadn’t been decided. This news comes days before Trump’s Aug. 1 deadline, when nations who have not yet reached a deal will face higher tariffs.
“I think so,” Trump told reporters when asked if that was a possible tariff rate for New Delhi.
“India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country.”
The US and China concluded their latest round of tariff and trade talks in Sweden on Tuesday, with both sides touting progress but without an immediate announcement of a further tariff delay. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Trump would make the final call on extending the trade truce between the world’s two largest economies.
This week’s talks were the third round for the countries, which have slowly deescalated trade tensions since Trump imposed gargantuan tariffs in April, and China reciprocated. The countries suspended those tariffs for 90 days — a suspension that is set to end on Aug. 12. Bessent said another 90-day extension is possible.
Meanwhile, the US and EU are racing to lock in the final details of their major new trade deal before President Trump’s self-imposed Friday deadline to reach agreements with partners other than China.
Critics say it’s a rushed fix, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz calling the outcome unsatisfying and France’s Bayrou dubbing the EU’s “submission” a “dark day.” The agreement includes a baseline tariff rate of 15% on most EU goods imported into the US. Trump called the deal “the biggest of them all.”
Trump also confirmed on Monday that 15% represents the new tariff “floor” for countries, whose rates he has been dictating to leaders in the absence of trade deals.
“For the world, I would say it’ll be somewhere in the 15% to 20% range,” Trump said in Scotland as he met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Last week, Trump said those letters dictating tariff rates for over 200 countries would go out soon while his administration works to clinch deals with larger trade partners. Still in focus are potential deals with Canada, Mexico, and India, among others.
Trump also touted a deal with Japan that included a $550 billion investment in the US and a 15% tariff on goods imported into the US from Japan. Japan said Tuesday its trade deal with the US eased policy uncertainty but warned US trade actions could still weigh on its economy.
Read more: What Trump’s tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
