India Has Not Agreed to Reduce All Tariff Barriers to Zero, Says Former US Assistant Secretary of Commerce Raymond Vickery
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Washington DC [US], February 7 :
Former US Assistant Secretary of Commerce Raymond Vickery said that India has not agreed to reduce all its tariff barriers to zero, and this has been clearly reflected in the India-US Interim Trade Agreement joint statement.
Speaking to ANI, Vickery said the interim framework contains important elements that can help reduce recent tensions and strengthen the trade relationship between the two nations.
“India Has Not Agreed to Reduce All Tariffs to Zero”
While reacting to the joint statement, Vickery said India has taken a practical approach.
“There are elements here which, going forward, can help to bridge some of the discontinuities, which have been very harmful to the US-India relationship over the past year,” he said.
He also added that it is positive that both sides have released a joint statement.
“It’s good that something has been put forward in a joint statement. India has not agreed to reduce all of its tariff barriers to zero, which was represented,” Vickery said.
Tariffs Reduced to 18%, But Long Way to Go
Vickery pointed out that while tariffs have been reduced to 18%, they remain significantly higher than earlier levels.
He noted that the current tariffs are still several times higher than before the dispute began.
“Now the tariffs are down to 18%. Well, that’s still seven, eight times what they were before this started,” he said.
Vickery Praises India’s “Rational and Logical Approach”
The former US official also praised India for not reacting to social media statements and instead following a logical strategy.
“India is doing a great job of not succumbing to the tweets or the social media pronouncements and taking a rational and logical approach,” he said.
He added that the India-US relationship remains extremely important and must continue moving forward.
Interim Trade Framework Linked to Broader US-India BTA
The US and India recently announced that they have reached a framework for an Interim Agreement on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.
The framework also reaffirmed both countries’ commitment to the broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations.
These BTA talks were launched by:
- US President Donald Trump
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on February 13
The joint statement said the interim deal is expected to support:
- Additional market access commitments
- More resilient supply chains
- Stronger long-term trade cooperation
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