Trump slaps additional 27% tariffs on Indian imports, 75% of goods to be impacted

US President Donald Trump has slapped sweeping reciprocal tariffs ranging from 10 to 49 per cent on imports from major trading partners, including India, escalating tensions with allies and adversaries alike.

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Trump imposed a steep 27 per cent tariff on all goods, barring pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, energy and certain minerals not available in the US, that are imported from India, calling the country “one of the worst offenders of unfair trade practices”. The goods that were exempt make up for just over 25 per cent of the total exports from India to the US.

Reacting cautiously, India said it was “carefully examining the implications”. It fears a decline in the trade of electronics, gems, jewellery and fisheries. On the positive side, it looks to explore opportunities to gain wider access to the US markets as an alternative to China and other competing Asian nations, using the tariff differential to its advantage.

A White House official said the baseline duty of 10 per cent would 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.

The US President set the tone for the tariffs in the wee hours of Wednesday, saying the country had been “looted, pillaged and raped by its trade partners for decades”. Trump declared April 2 as “Liberation Day”, calling it as “one of the most important days in American history”.

Trump said he was being “kind by imposing discounted reciprocal tariffs” on India and China, “charging only half of what the two nations imposed on the US”.

The White House official said several countries, including the UK, Singapore, Chile, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Turkiye, Colombia, Argentina, El Salvador, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, would only face the 10 per cent base rate. The EU would face 20 per cent tariff and Japan 24 per cent. The duty could go up to 60 per cent for others nations, whom Trump called “worst-offenders”.

The US announcement set off a chain reaction across the globe. India said the Department of Commerce was engaged with all stakeholders, including the industry and exporters, taking feedback of their assessment of the tariffs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Trump in Washington DC on February 13 and announced ‘Mission 500’, aiming to more than double the bilateral trade to US $500 billion by 2030. The office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) pegs the 2024 bilateral trade at $129.2 billion.

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefcovic said the “unjustified tariffs would inevitably backfire”. “We will act in a calm, carefully phased and unified way.… But we won’t stand idly by, should we be unable to reach a fair deal,” Šefcovic said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described Trump’s decision as “fundamentally wrong”. China, which exports over $400 billion worth of goods annually to the US, has urged immediate removal of the tariffs and vowed countermeasures to protect its interests.

Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba said the country was “extremely disappointed”. Canada and Mexico are currently exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, other than Trump’s earlier 25 per cent fentanyl-related duties, along with a 10 per cent duty on Canadian energy and potash.