India has not yet made any commitments to the United States about tariffs and has sought time until September to address the matter, the Union government told a parliamentary panel on Monday, reported The Times of India.

This came two days after US President Donald Trump said that India has agreed to “cut their tariffs way down”. On March 5, Trump announced that reciprocal tariffs will be imposed on India, China and other countries from April 2.

Trump has repeatedly iterated his intention to impose a reciprocal tax on India, citing the high tariffs by New Delhi on foreign goods.

Quoting unidentified officials, The Times of India quoted Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal on Monday telling the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs that India was working with the US to ensure a mutually beneficial trade agreement.

Barthwal added that the agreement would focus on long-term trade cooperation instead of seeking immediate tariff adjustments.

Unlike China, Mexico and Canada – countries facing tariffs from the Trump administration along with India – New Delhi was engaged with Washington on a trade deal, the commerce secretary reportedly said.

Responding to questions from Opposition leaders, Barthwal stated that the US is yet to officially impose new tariffs on India and that New Delhi could only take steps once that is done.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress’s Deepender Hooda and Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghosh had questioned Barthwal about Trump’s March 5 announcement, reported The Times of India.

The US president had said: “On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada and countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs. India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100%. China’s average tariffs on our products are twice of what we charge them. This system is not fair to the United States of America.”

Two days later, he said on March 7 that New Delhi wants to “cut their tariffs way down now because somebody’s finally exposing them for what they have done.”

Earlier that day, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that New Delhi was working to lower tariff and non-tariff barriers with Washington, and enhance trade in goods and services through “a mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement”.

“Our objective through the BTA is to strengthen and deepen India-US two-way trade across the goods and services sector, increase market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration between the two countries,” said ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

Also read: How will India’s tariff cuts on US imports impact economic growth?