India Inc expressed its disappointment over US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 25% tariff and secondary sanctions on Indian exports from Friday and hoped these would be temporary and anticipated for a permanent trade deal between the two nations soon.

Commenting on the latest announcement from the American president, leading chamber, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said that the move is unfortunate and will have a clear bearing on our exports.

FICCI President, Harsh Vardhan Agarwal said on Wednesday that he hoped that imposition of higher tariffs will be a short-term phenomenon and a trade deal would be finalised soon. 

“We hope that this imposition of higher tariffs will be a short-term phenomenon and that a permanent trade deal between the two sides will be finalised soon,” he said. 

“India and the U.S. have a long-standing partnership, which is strengthened by our deepening engagement across an array of areas from technology to defence to energy and advanced manufacturing. There is a lot our two countries can achieve together,” Agarwal said and added, “The FICCI is confident that following the detailed deliberations that are currently underway, we will see beneficial outcomes for both countries when the contours of the final trade agreement will emerge.”

India has been actively negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US since the start of the year. A US team is coming to India in the latter half of August to further discuss on the BTA, he said and added that the FICCI was hopeful that the two sides will make progress in their discussions and complete the negotiations by September-October 2025.

The US is an important market for Indian exporters, both in goods and in services and industry would like to have a long-term permanent agreement with the country. At the same time, India also offers a large market for US businesses and large corporations, the chamber official said.