Howard Lutnick meets Piyush Goyal, holds 'highly productive' trade talks

Howard Lutnick held talks with Piyush Goyal in Delhi as tariff uncertainty persists following fresh US duties and renewed trade deal discussions

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday made a surprise visit to Delhi and held “highly productive” discussions with India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, days after the US Supreme Court overturned the sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

 

“Hosted US Secretary of Commerce @HowardLutnick & @USAmbIndia Sergio Gor. Engaged in very fruitful discussions to expand our trade and economic partnership,” Goyal posted on X. 

US Ambassador Gor also made a similar post on X: “A highly productive lunch with @howardlutnick and @PiyushGoyal. So many areas of cooperation for our two nations!” 

An Indian official, requesting anonymity, said Lutnick is on a personal trip to India. Later in the day, news agency ANI put out a video of Lutnick arriving in Jodhpur. 

 

The visit came a day after the US Department of Commerce imposed a 126 per cent duty on imports of solar power equipment from India.

 

Speaking at the Business Standard Manthan event on Tuesday, Goyal had said India would resume trade deal talks with the US as soon as there is “more clarity” regarding the tariff situation in Washington. A team headed by India’s chief trade negotiator for the US, Darpan Jain, earlier this week postponed its visit to Washington, DC, amid uncertainty over tariffs. The team was scheduled to travel on Sunday for three days of talks to finalise the legal text of the negotiated interim trade deal.

 

Starting February 24, Trump imposed a blanket 10 per cent surcharge on all countries for 150 days under Section 122 of the Trade Act. He also ordered new investigations under other laws that could allow him to re-impose tariffs agreed under trade deals.

 

In his State of the Union address on Wednesday, Trump said that despite the “unfortunate” ruling by the Supreme Court, almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deals they had already made. “Knowing that the legal power that I, as President, have to make a new deal could be far worse for them. And, therefore, they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate involvement,” he added.

 

Trump said the tariffs would remain in place under fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes such as Section 301 and Section 232. “They’re a little more complex, but they’re actually probably better, leading to a solution that will be even stronger than before,” he said.

 

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday, said he has been in constant contact with trading partners to help them understand how the “replacement tools” align with the trade deals the US has made.

 

“Section 301 allows USTR to investigate unfair trade practices on a country-by-country basis. We have identified many such practices. These include the use of forced labour in supply chains, industrial excess capacity, discrimination against our digital tech companies, and subsidies for rice and seafood, among other issues,” he added.