Trump hits India with steep 27% tariffs; New Delhi says studying implications

President Donald Trump slapped universal duties on all countries exporting goods to the US and additional steep levies on countries like India, potentially impacting sales of products from shrimp to steel in the world's biggest economy.

The US imposed a steep 27 per cent tariff on all goods, barring pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, energy and certain minerals not available in the United States, that are imported from India, calling the country the "worst offender" of unfair trade practices.

Export of products such as shrimp, carpet, medical devices and gold jewellery to the US will be impacted. On the other hand, exports of electronics, textiles and pharma will get an edge over its competitor countries.

Exemption of energy from the tariffs would also mean that India can continue to export fuels like gasoil and gasoline to the US.

The goods that were exempted from the tariffs made up for just over 25 per cent of the total exports from India to the US.

The Indian government reacted cautiously, saying it is "carefully examining the implications" of the announcements and will also study opportunities that may arise due to this new development in the US trade policy.

Trump announced the imposition of additional ad valorem duties ranging from 10 per cent to 50 per cent on imports from all trading partners. The baseline duty of 10 per cent will be effective on India from April 5 and an additional 27 per cent from April 9.

The 27 per cent duty would be over and above any existing levy that Indian products entering the US may currently attract.

Though the move is expected to impact India's exports of certain goods to the US, experts say that India is better placed than its competitors, including Bangladesh (37 per cent), China (54 per cent), Vietnam (46 per cent) and Thailand (36 per cent) who face increased levies.

President Trump, in a historic measure to counter higher duties on American products imposed globally, announced reciprocal tariffs on about 60 countries.