Tharoor warns Trump’s 50% tariff will make Indian goods ‘unaffordable’ in US
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Tharoor warns Trump’s 50% tariff will make Indian goods ‘unaffordable’ in US")
Tharoor warns Trump’s 50% tariff will make Indian goods ‘unaffordable’ in US Photograph: (Reuters)
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor warned that US President Trump’s new 25% tariff on Indian goods, raising total duties to 50%, could hurt exports, benefit competitors, and push India to diversify trade markets.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has warned that US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods could severely hurt India’s exports to the American market. “I don’t think that’s particularly good news for us, and that takes our total tariffs to 50 per cent. Then that’s going to make our goods unaffordable to a lot of people in America,” Tharoor told reporters on Thursday.
Competitors could gain from India’s loss
Tharoor cautioned that higher duties would make Indian products less competitive compared to other Asian exporters. “In particular, when you’re looking at these percentages, you have to compare them with the tariffs being levied on some of our competitors. I’m afraid that if you look at people like Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, even Bangladesh and Pakistan have lower tariffs than us. Then ultimately, people will not be buying goods from us in America if they can buy them cheaper elsewhere. So that’s not very good for our exports to America,” he said.
Push to diversify export markets
The Congress MP urged India to urgently expand its trade partnerships beyond the US. “This means we need to very seriously diversify to other countries and other markets that may be interested in what we have to offer. We now have an FTA with the UK. We are talking to the EU. There are many countries in which hopefully we would be able to, but in the short term, it is definitely a blow,” Tharoor added.
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New Delhi calls tariffs ‘unfair and unreasonable’
India’s Ministry of External Affairs condemned the new tariffs, calling them “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.” “We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India,” the MEA said in a statement. “It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest,” it added.
Tariffs linked to Russia trade and BRICS membership
The fresh duties come on top of a 25% tariff introduced on 1 August, with the new levy to take effect 21 days later. The combined 50% rate will apply to most Indian goods, except a small exemption list. Trump said the penalties were linked to India’s continued imports of Russian oil and military products, as well as its participation in the BRICS bloc, which he described as “anti-American.” The move is part of Washington’s wider pressure campaign on Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
