The White House said India imposes its “uniquely burdensome” testing and certification requirements in sectors such as chemicals, telecom products, and medical devices, making it "difficult or costly" for American companies to sell their products in the country.

In a fact sheet issued by US President Donald Trump on countries that levy taxes on American goods, India was targeted primarily, citing that India charges difficult taxes and barriers on US goods. If such barriers are removed, they estimated that US exports would increase by at least USD 5.3 billion annually.

On the issue of addressing trade imbalances, the White House said that Trump is trying to level the playing field for American homegrown businesses and workers by confronting “unfair” trade practices and heavy taxes levied by other countries.

The White House fact sheet further mentioned, “The United States has one of the lowest simple average most-favored-nation (MFN) tariff rates in the world at 3.3 percent, while many of our key trading partners, like Brazil (11.2 percent), China (7.5 percent), the European Union (5 percent), India (17 percent), and Vietnam (9.4 percent), have simple average MFN tariff rates that are significantly higher,”