‘Not worried about Indian rupee,’ US Treasury Secy brushes off idea of rupee becoming reserve currency – World News

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday sounded optimistic even as trade tensions between Washington and New Delhi reached a new high with 50% tariffs coming into effect. In an interview with Fox News, Bessent said the US-India relationship is complex and “President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have a very good relationship”. He stressed that while India had engaged in negotiations early after Liberation Day, a deal had yet to materialise. Bessent also criticised New Delhi’s continued purchase of discounted Russian crude, describing much of India’s stance in the discussions as “performative”.

Bessent on Indian rupee

On the rupee’s prospects, Bessent dismissed any notion of it emerging as a global reserve currency. The Fox News anchor mockingly asked Bessent, “Do you worry that India will set trade in the rupee and not the dollar?” “There are a lot of things I worry about. The rupee becoming a reserve currency is not one of them,” Bessent responded. He further said that the Indian currency is currently near an “all-time low”. 

Meanwhile, India has launched a counteroffensive to mitigate the impact of tariffs, announcing outreach programmes across 40 key global markets, including the UK, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Russia and Australia, with a focus on boosting textile exports.

Tariffs add to India’s strain

The Trump administration’s tariffs add to the strain. An initial 25% levy on Indian exports came into effect from August 7 and the new additional 25% on top of that has raised the total tariff to 50%. The US president had ramped up his rhetoric, mocking both India and Russia. “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump said, while citing India’s high tariffs and limited trade with the US.

According to experts, the tariffs will significantly impact labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, even as both countries signal a willingness to maintain diplomatic and strategic ties. For now, trade negotiations remain ongoing, with outreach initiatives and diplomatic dialogues aiming to ease tensions while securing India’s export interests globally.

A report by Reuters also quoted Indian government officials as saying that New Delhi is still hopeful that the US will revise its decision in the coming days.