US tariffs pressure tactics to get India to sign on dotted line in trade talks, we have not caved in: Vikas Swarup

In an interview with ANI, Vikas Swarup, who has been a former High Commissioner to Canada and is a renowned author, said that India has not caved in to the US pressure in trade talks to provide more access to the country's agriculture and dairy sectors. He said US is exerting pressure tactics to get India to agree to its maximalist demands.

President Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods plus an unspecified penalty in July, even as there were hopes of an interim India-US trade deal that would have otherwise helped avoid elevated tariffs. A few days later, he imposed another 25 per cent tariff, taking the total to 50 per cent, over India's imports of Russian oil.

"We have to understand why these tariffs have been imposed. I personally feel that there are three reasons. One, Trump is not happy with India because we are a member of BRICS and somehow, in his head, he has got this notion that BRICS is an anti-America alliance which is hell-bent on creating an alternative currency to the dollar. So, because of that, he feels that India should not be a member of the BRICS. Two, Operation Sindoor and his so-called role in bringing about the ceasefire," Vikas Swarup said.

"We have been saying right from the beginning that Trump had no role because we do not accept external mediation. This ceasefire was mediated directly between the DGMOs of Pakistan and India at the request of the DGMO of Pakistan. Trump has now said almost 30 times that it was he who got the two countries to stop back from the brink, who stopped a nuclear conflagration in the subcontinent. So, obviously he is miffed that India has not acknowledged his role, whereas Pakistan has not only acknowledged his role but has even nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize," he added.

India had carried out Operation Sindoor in early May in response to Pahalgam terror attack and carried out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK. India had replled subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases.

Referring to Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) talks between India and US, Vikas Swarup said Trump is resorting to pressure tactics to get India to sign on his maximalist demands.

"...This is part of his pressure tactics to get India to sign on the dotted line on the maximalist demands that the US is making with regard to access to our dairy and agriculture and GM Crops. We have not caved in and it is also in a way a signal to Russia because he is also frustrated that he has not been able to get President Putin to agree to the ceasefire that Zelenskyy has agreed to," he said.

Vikas Swarup referred to the summit meeting between President Trump and President Putin in Alaska on August 15 over the Ukraine conflict.

"Now they are meeting in Alaska on 15th August. If there is a positive outcome of the Alaska talks then I am 100% sure that the Russia sanctions will be off the table because Putin is not going to accept a ceasefire and yet be saddled with economic sanctions," he said.

India and the US initiated talks for a just, balanced, and mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in March this year, aiming to complete 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 to August 1.

During the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal made a statement in both Houses, affirming that the government is examining the impact of tariffs and will take all necessary steps to safeguard the national interest. (ANI)