Trump Tariffs: US Senators Pressed For 25% Tariff Relief For India — Inside The Closed-Door Briefing
Pro-India lawmakers pressed the Trump administration to speed up on the bilateral trade deal amid ongoing tensions, according to a media report.
US Senators have urged Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the status of trade talks with India and the possibility of removing 25% tariff penalty on New Delhi for buying Russian energy during a closed-door Senate Finance Committee hearing on December 3, Hindustan Times reported.
Pro-India lawmakers, including Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Republican Senator Steve Daines, pressed the Trump administration to speed up on the bilateral trade deal amid ongoing tensions, the report said quoting sources as saying.
Greer informed the committee that the administration hopes to lift the tariff soon, though a final decision rests at a higher level. His remarks echoed comments made during a public Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Dec. 9, where he described negotiations as "fairly far advanced."
"I have a team right now as we speak in New Delhi working on this. There is resistance in India to certain row crops and other meats and products. You said they were a difficult nut to crack. I agree with that 100%. But they have been quite forward-leaning. The type of offers they have been talking to us about are some of the best we have received as a country. I think that's a viable alternative market," Greer said as reported by Hindustan Times.
Warner, co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, has been a vocal advocate for transparency on the deal. Meanwhile, India's mission in Washington has intensified outreach, with Ambassador Vinay Kwatra meeting about a dozen key Senators, including Republicans Rick Scott, Dave McCormick, Steve Daines, and Bill Hagerty, and Democrats Brian Schatz and Tammy Duckworth, many from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
These diplomatic moves coincide with a US trade team, led by Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer, concluding talks in New Delhi on Thursday.
Six rounds of in-person negotiations have occurred so far as both sides aim to resolve disputes over agriculture, energy, and market access.
