Amid US Tariffs, Shashi Tharoor Has One Question For Indian Government | Exclusive

Last Updated:April 04, 2025, 15:38 IST

“Does the Indian government have a stand on agricultural tariffs,” Congress leader Shashi Tharoor asked while speaking to CNN-News18 on Friday

Shashi Tharoor said the PM or a senior minister should clarify the stand of the government on these demands. (PTI File)

“Does the Indian government have a stand on agricultural tariffs," Congress leader Shashi Tharoor asked while speaking to CNN-News18 on Friday, saying there has been “very little coming out of the government" so far on the issue of tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump government in the United States (US).

The Congress carried out a protest in Parliament on Friday, demanding a statement from the Prime Minister on the issue of US Tariffs.

“The Congress leadership wants clarification from the government about what is going on. We are reading in the newspapers about Americans demanding that India should lower its tariffs and lower subsidies in agricultural products," Tharoor told CNN-News18.

Tharoor said this raises some real questions because India’s farmers are already in bad shape. “We have seen the farmer protests," he said.

He said the Prime Minister or a senior minister should clarify the stand of the government on these demands.

So far, there is only a statement from the Ministry of Commerce issued on Thursday. “There has been very little coming out of the government so far," Tharoor told CNN-News18. “We can partially understand that because the negotiations are supposed to be ongoing. But some basic principles that the nation can be assured by should have come."

The former Union Minister said one of the calculations that has to be done is that the tariffs which have been put on India are lower than those countries who are competing with us for the same export market.

“So countries like China, Vietnam have higher tariffs. Even Bangladesh which would be a major exporter of textiles to America – they have now get new tariffs. So there are some real issues there which may represent some opportunities for Indian manufacturers," Tharoor told CNN-News18.

He, however, said there will be other areas where India will be at a disadvantage, “where our principal competition will only be with countries which are only charged 10% tariff".

“So all of these calculations have to be made. It will be helpful if the government takes the public into confidence, ideally through the forum of Parliament," Tharoor told CNN-News18.

News politics Amid US Tariffs, Shashi Tharoor Has One Question For Indian Government | Exclusive