India has not been a great global actor: US Treasury Secy

WASHINGTON:United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has blamed India for “slow-rolling things” in the talks for a Free Trade Agreement and said “the whole trade team has been frustrated with them”.

The comments, made in an interview with CNBC, came a day after the US President announced a 25 per cent tariff on India and an unspecified penalty for purchasing Russian oil. The new US tariffs on Indian goods are set to take effect from August 1.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen. It’ll be up to India. India came to the table early. They have been slow-rolling things. So the President, the whole trade team, has been frustrated with them,” Bessent told CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’.

He also talked about India’s energy ties with Russia. “India has been a large buyer of sanctioned Russian oil that they then resell as refined products. They have not been a great global actor,” he said.

Bessent was asked about Trump’s tariff announcement on India and if he expected something to happen before the deadline.

After announcing a 25 per cent tariff and penalty for purchasing Russian oil, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (local time) that Washington is continuing trade negotiations with New Delhi. He emphasised that India is one of the countries imposing high tariffs on the United States.

“We’re talking to them now. We’ll see what happens. Again, India was the highest or just about the highest tariff nation in the world, one of the highest, 100 points, 150 points or percentages. So India was one of the highest in the world. They had 175 per cent and higher than that,” Trump said to a question by ANI during a press conference at the White House, held to mark the signing of a Congressional bill.

Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on India and an additional penalty for buying Russian oil on his social media handle, Truth Social.
The US President, during the press conference, also talked about India being a member of BRICS.

“We’re negotiating right now, and it’s also BRICS. They have BRICS, which is basically a group of countries that are anti-United States, and India is a member of that, if you can believe it. It’s an attack on the dollar, and we’re not going to let anybody attack the dollar. It’s partially due to BRICS, and partially to the trade. This trade situation is a deficit. We had a tremendous deficit,” Trump stated.

He emphasised India-US ties, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “friend,” while referring to the US trade deficit with India. He further noted that it “doesn’t matter too much” if the India-US deal reaches a certain tariff.

India has said that it is examining the impact of Trump’s tariff announcement and will take necessary steps to safeguard national interest.

Commerce and Industry Minister told the Parliament on Thursday that the government is examining the impact of the recent events and will take all necessary steps to safeguard the national interest.

Goayl said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is holding talks with exporters, industries and all stakeholders and gathering information on their assessment of this issue.

“On April 2, 2025, the US President issued an executive order on reciprocal tariffs…ten per cent baseline duty in effect since April 2025. With a 10% baseline tariff, a total of 26% tariff was announced for India. Full country-specific additional tariff was scheduled to come into effect on April 9 but on April 10 this was extended initially for 90 days and then extended till August 1 2025,” Goyal said

“Government gives utmost priority to the safeguarding of the welfare of farmers, labourers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, exporters, MSMEs and stakeholders of the industrial sector. We will take all necessary steps to safeguard our national interest. The Government is confident that we will continue our swift journey of inclusive and consistent development towards the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047. Aatmanirbharta ki ore Bharat aatmavishwas se badh raha hai,” he added.

The Union Minister said that in less than a decade, India came out of the ‘Fragile Five’ economies and it has now become the fastest-growing economy in the world.

“On the basis of the hard work of reforms, farmers, MSMEs and industrialists, we have come in the top five economies of the world from the 11th largest economy. It is expected that we will be the third-largest economy in a few years. Today, global institutions and economists see India as a bright spot in the global economy,” he said.

Goyal said India and the US started talks for a just, balanced and mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in March this year, and the goal of this was to finish the first stage of the Agreement by October-November 2025.

On April 2, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order for reciprocal tariffs on various trade partners, imposing varied tariffs in the range of 10-50 per cent. He subsequently kept the tariffs in abeyance for 90 days, while imposing a 10 per cent baseline tariff. The deadline was to end on July 9, and the US administration later pushed it ahead to August 1.

In March 2025, India and the US initiated talks for a BTA, with the countries stating that the first tranche would be signed by the fall of 2025. (October-November).Talks took place in New Delhi and the US, and there have also been virtual meetings. In its statement on Wednesday, There were some reservations from the Indian side on the US demand for opening up the agricultural and dairy sectors for the US. Agriculture and dairy are critical for India as these two sectors provide livelihood opportunities to a large section of its people. (ANI)