'US wants farm exports, not jobs': Ex-foreign secretary dismantles Lutnick's case against India
Former diplomat slams Washington's tariff policy, says India not responsible for hollowing out US industry
- Sep 28, 2025,
- Updated Sep 28, 2025 1:01 PM IST
Former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal on Sunday slammed U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, accusing him of spreading false narratives about India's trade practices and tariff policies.
"What is it that the US is doing 'correctly' with India? What concessions has the US made specifically to India? Your lower tariffs were for all countries, not for India specifically," Sibal wrote on X. "Lutnik should stop this reprehensible propaganda drive against India."
Sibal argued that U.S. tariff reductions were designed to benefit its own consumers and investors. "It suited you to have low tariffs so that cheap goods from all over the world, a lot produced by US companies or financial investments abroad, could be imported to benefit the US consumer and keep domestic inflation low," he said.
The former foreign secretary underlined that China, not India, was responsible for the decline in American manufacturing. "US manufacturing/supply chains shifted a great deal to China, not India. India has not hollowed out manufacturing in the US, China has," Sibal said.
He added that services trade had been mutually beneficial. "We have provided services and here the US has gained. In the services sector, the US has a small surplus with India."
Recalling past U.S. actions, Sibal pointed out that India has consistently faced protectionist measures. "In his first term Trump withdrew GSP benefits from India, imposed high tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from India. In his second term he has imposed 50% tariffs on India, half of which have nothing to do with trade and are purely political," he said. "With this high wall of tariffs who is the tariff king of the world now?"
Sibal also dismissed Washington's push to sell more farm goods in India. "The US wants to export its agricultural products to India which has nothing to do with manufacturing or job creation in the US," he said.
On Saturday, Lutnick told NewsNation that India was among the "big ones" Washington wanted to "fix" in trade negotiations. "We have a bunch of countries to fix like Switzerland, Brazil, India—these are countries that need to really react correctly to America. Open their markets, stop taking actions that harm America, and that's why we're off sides with them," Lutnick said.
India currently faces some of the highest U.S. trade levies after the Trump administration imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent penalty linked to its Russian oil imports. "These countries (India and Brazil) have to understand that if you want to sell to the U.S. consumer, you've got to play ball with the president of the United States," Lutnick added.
Former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal on Sunday slammed U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, accusing him of spreading false narratives about India's trade practices and tariff policies.
"What is it that the US is doing 'correctly' with India? What concessions has the US made specifically to India? Your lower tariffs were for all countries, not for India specifically," Sibal wrote on X. "Lutnik should stop this reprehensible propaganda drive against India."
Sibal argued that U.S. tariff reductions were designed to benefit its own consumers and investors. "It suited you to have low tariffs so that cheap goods from all over the world, a lot produced by US companies or financial investments abroad, could be imported to benefit the US consumer and keep domestic inflation low," he said.
The former foreign secretary underlined that China, not India, was responsible for the decline in American manufacturing. "US manufacturing/supply chains shifted a great deal to China, not India. India has not hollowed out manufacturing in the US, China has," Sibal said.
He added that services trade had been mutually beneficial. "We have provided services and here the US has gained. In the services sector, the US has a small surplus with India."
Recalling past U.S. actions, Sibal pointed out that India has consistently faced protectionist measures. "In his first term Trump withdrew GSP benefits from India, imposed high tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from India. In his second term he has imposed 50% tariffs on India, half of which have nothing to do with trade and are purely political," he said. "With this high wall of tariffs who is the tariff king of the world now?"
Sibal also dismissed Washington's push to sell more farm goods in India. "The US wants to export its agricultural products to India which has nothing to do with manufacturing or job creation in the US," he said.
On Saturday, Lutnick told NewsNation that India was among the "big ones" Washington wanted to "fix" in trade negotiations. "We have a bunch of countries to fix like Switzerland, Brazil, India—these are countries that need to really react correctly to America. Open their markets, stop taking actions that harm America, and that's why we're off sides with them," Lutnick said.
India currently faces some of the highest U.S. trade levies after the Trump administration imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent penalty linked to its Russian oil imports. "These countries (India and Brazil) have to understand that if you want to sell to the U.S. consumer, you've got to play ball with the president of the United States," Lutnick added.