Modi says ready to pay heavy price after Trump’s salvo of 50% tariff
- “For us, our farmers’ welfare is supreme,” says Modi.
- India official says US tariff hike “lacks logic”.
- Brazil’s president says will call Modi on Thursday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he will not compromise the interests of the country’s farmers even if he has to pay a heavy price for it, in his first comments after US President Donald Trump’s salvo of a 50% tariff on Indian goods.
Trump announced an additional 25% tariff on the South Asian nation on Thursday, taking the total levy on Indian goods being exported to the US to 50% — among the highest levied on any US trading partner.
“For us, our farmers’ welfare is supreme,” Modi said in a function in New Delhi. “India will never compromise on the well-being of its farmers, dairy sector and fishermen. And I know personally I will have to pay a heavy price for it,” he said.
Trade talks between India and the United States collapsed after five rounds of negotiations over disagreement on opening India’s vast farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases.
Modi did not directly refer to the US tariffs or trade talks.
The new tariff, effective from Aug. 28, was to penalise India for its purchase of Russian oil, Trump has said. India’s foreign ministry has said the decision was “extremely unfortunate,” and that “India will take all necessary steps to protect its national interests.”
The US is yet to announce any similar tariff for China, which is the biggest buyer of Russian oil. Experts have said China has been spared so far as it has a bargaining chip with the US over its reserves of rare earth minerals and other such commodities, which India lacks.
“The US tariff hike lacks logic,” Dammu Ravi, secretary of economic relations in India’s foreign ministry, told reporters.
“So this is a temporary aberration, a temporary problem that the country will face, but in course of time, we are confident that the world will find solutions.”
India has started making moves to signal that it might have to consider other partnerships in the coming months in the face of Trump’s tariffs, which have led to the worst diplomatic showdown between the two countries in years.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing for his first visit to China in over seven years, suggesting a potential realignment in alliances as relations with Washington fray.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he would initiate a conversation among the BRICS group of developing nations about how to tackle Trump’s tariffs.
He said he planned to call Modi on Thursday, and China’s Xi Jinping and other leaders. The BRICS group also includes Russia and South Africa.
Ravi said “like-minded countries will look for cooperation and economic engagement that will be mutually beneficial to all sides.”
‘Trump levy severe setback’
Indian exporters warned that additional US tariffs risked making businesses “not viable” after President Donald Trump ordered steeper levies on Indian goods over New Delhi’s purchasing of Russian oil.
Stocks opened marginally lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Nifty index down 0.31% after an initial 25% US tariff came into effect.
But that will be doubled in three weeks, after Trump signed an order Wednesday to impose an additional 25% levy for New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil, a key revenue source for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
India is the second-largest buyer of Russian oil, saving itself billions of dollars on discounted crude.
India’s foreign ministry condemned Trump’s announcement of further tariffs, calling the move “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”
S.C. Ralhan, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), said he feared a troubling impact.
“This move is a severe setback for Indian exports, with nearly 55% of our shipments to the US market directly affected”, he said in a statement.
“The 50% reciprocal tariff effectively imposes a cost burden, placing our exporters at a 30-35% competitive disadvantage compared to peers from countries with lesser reciprocal tariff.”
Ralhan said “many export orders have already been put on hold” as buyers reassess sourcing decisions.
For “a large number” of small to medium-sized enterprises, profit “margins are already thin”, he said.
“Absorbing this sudden cost escalation is simply not viable”, he added.
The world’s fifth-largest economy — and most populous nation — is bracing for a bumpy ride, as the United States is its largest trading partner, with New Delhi shipping goods worth $87.4 billion in 2024.
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