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India tariff news LIVE updates: India is considering tariff countermeasures on certain United States goods in retaliation to the latter’s punishing 50 per cent tariffs on steel, aluminium and their derivatives from India that it imposed in June, according to people aware of the matter. If India goes through with these countermeasures, it would be its first retaliation since Donald Trump announced a total of 50 per cent tariffs on India, half of which is a penalty for doing business with Russia. However, the levies on steel and aluminium have played out as a parallel trade dispute at the World Trade Organization. …Read More
American economist Jeffrey Sachs has warned that for India, there are no security benefits of siding with the United States in the Quad against China. “India is a great power that has an independent standing in the world. Everything that Trump is doing on tariffs is unconstitutional,” said Sachs.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday ruled out possibility of trade negotiations with India unless the issue of tariffs is resolved. When asked by a reporter whether he expects increased trade negotiations with India after announcing 50% tariffs, Trump replied, “No, not until we get it resolved.”
India’s former vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, while reacting to US’ tariffs on India on Saturday, said that the country will not yield to any threats. “We will safeguard energy security and we will stand firm on our strategic and national interest,” PTI quoted him as saying.
US’ former national security advisor John Bolton has called Trump’ tariffs on India a potentially “enormous mistake.” In an interview with CNN, he said it was ironic that the secondary tariff, intended to hurt Russia, could instead push India closer to Russia and China, and perhaps lead them to negotiate together against the US.
US tariffs on India | Key points
- The United States imposed 25 per cent tariffs on India before its August 1 deadline kicked in, followed by additional 25 per cent tariffs that it announced on August 6 as punishment for buying Russian oil, taking the total tariffs on India to 50 per cent.
- While the initial 25 per cent tariffs came into effect on August 7, the remaining 25 per cent will come into effect by August 27.
- India has called US’ move to slap such steep tariffs for doing trade with Russia as “unfair, unjustified, unreasonable”.
- The US’ move to slap India with penalty for buying oil from Russia is also a way for it to push Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
- United States President Donald Trump will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska. The announcement of the meeting came after after Trump on Friday claimed that “we’re getting very close” to a peace deal.
- “The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
- Amid US tariff row, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday and discussed a range of issues.
Trump’s steep 50 pe cent tariffs on India are threatening to push its stock market even further behind China, reported Bloomberg.
India’s stock market is lagging behind China’s by $6.3 trillion, which is the widest gap since March, the report added. The MSCI India Index is trailing China’s by 10 percentage points this quarter and is heading for its worst yearly performance since 2017
Reacting to Trump’s 50% tariff threat on Indian imports, Dammu Ravi, secretary of economic relations in India’s external affairs ministry, had earlier said the move “lacked logic”. He also indicated that India may look to seek rebalance its global partnernships in the face of the tariffs. “If the US becomes difficult to export to, you will automatically look at other opportunities,” he had said.
While half of Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs announced on Indian imports came into force on August 7, the remaining 25 per cent are set to take effect on August 27. Ahead of that deadline, India may be planning a retaliation with countertariffs for US’ 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium announced in June, people aware of the matter have said. “Washington is unwilling to address New Delhi’s concerns through talks, which leaves India with little option other than to retaliate,” one person aware of the matter has reportedly said. Read full report here.
Indian equity markets are set for a choppy week ahead as investors brace for any new development on escalating trade tensions with the United States, besides the release of key domestic inflation data for July.
The cautious sentiment follows a sixth straight week of declines for benchmark indices, with both the Sensex and Nifty ending lower on persistent selling pressure and profit booking, analysts said.
During the week ended Friday, the BSE Sensex dropped 1.01 per cent to close at 79,857.79, while the NSE Nifty shed 1.20 per cent to settle at 24,363.30.
Market mood turned negative after the US President Donald Trump announced a total 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, a move that unsettled investors and particularly export-focused sectors. Read more. (ANI)
The newly announced 50 per cent US tariffs are in addition to the existing standard import duty in the US.
According to GTRI, some Indian products that will now face high US export duties include:
Organic chemicals – 54% total duty
Carpets – 52.9%
Knitted clothes – 63.9%
Woven clothes – 60.3%
Textiles, made ups – 59%
Diamonds, gold – 52.1%
Machinery and mechanical appliances – 51.3%
Furniture, bedding, mattresses – 52.3% (PTI)
The 50% tariff imposed by the Trump administration has left Punjab and Haryana basmati growers and exporters deeply worried, fearing severe impact on aromatic grain exports to the US as neighbouring Pakistan gains a significant competitive advantage.
The punitive tariff rate — among the highest imposed on any US trading partner — stems from Trump’s August 7 executive order adding a 25% penalty for India’s Russian oil purchases on top of an existing 25% reciprocal tariff, with the combined levy taking effect August 28.
“It’s a double whammy,” said Ranjit Singh Jossan, vice-president of the basmati exporters association, explaining that India exports nearly 300,000 tonnes (worth $350 million) to the US annually and the steep tariffs will hit exporters hard while giving Pakistan—another major producer, with a 19% levy on its goods —a crucial edge. Read more.
India tariff news LIVE updates: China on Thursday slammed the United States for doubling the tariffs on India to 50 per cent, saying that Beijing’s opposition to the abuse of tariffs has been consistent and clear.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, while addressing the press on Thursday, was asked for a comment on US’ additional 25 per cent tariffs on India for doing business with Russia, to which he replied, “China’s opposition to the abuse of tariffs is consistent and clear.”
Day after Trump announced 50 per cent tariffs on India, PM Modi said on Thursday he will not compromise the interests of the country’s farmers even if he has to pay a heavy price, in his first comments after Trump’s tariffs shock.
“For us, our farmers’ welfare is supreme,” Modi said at an event in New Delhi.
“India will never compromise on the wellbeing of its farmers, dairy (sector) and fishermen. And I know personally I will have to pay a heavy price for it,” he added.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday responded to the 50 per cent tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump on India.
While suggesting that India retaliate by raising tariffs on the US to 50 per cent, Tharoor also put forward a question. “.. .We need to ask them, do they not value our relationship? If India doesn’t matter to them, they should also not matter to us,” Tharoor said.
The Congress MP said that India’s average tariffs on American goods stood at 17 per cent currently, adding that they should be raised to the same level as the US. “Why should we stop at 17 per cent? We should also raise it to 50 per cent…” the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
Former US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell criticised US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 50 per cent tariffs on India.
In an interview with CNBC International, Campbell said that America’s relations with India were at risk owing to the tariffs. “America’s most important relationship in the 21st century is with India. Much of that is now at risk,” he said.
Campbell also urged India to not give in to Trump’s demands. “Prime Minister Modi should not bend the knee to President Trump,” he said.
Suggesting that the move to stop India from carrying on trade with Russia might backfire, Campbell said, “If you tell India that it has to sacrifice its relationship with Russia, then Indian strategists are going to do the exact opposite.”
US consumers probably experienced a slight pickup in underlying inflation in July as retailers gradually raised prices on a variety of items subject to higher import duties.
The core consumer price index, regarded as a measure of underlying inflation because it strips out volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.3% in July, according to the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists. In June, core CPI edged up 0.2% from the prior month.
While that would be the biggest gain since the start of the year, Americans — at least those who drive — are finding some offset at the gas pump. Cheaper gasoline probably helped limit the overall CPI to a 0.2% gain, the government’s report on Tuesday is expected to show.
Higher US tariffs have started to filter through to consumers in categories such as household furnishings and recreational goods. But a separate measure of core services inflation has so far remained tame. Still, many economists expect higher import duties to keep gradually feeding through.(Bloomberg)
India tariff news LIVE updates: Praising the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former minister, while sharing his personal experience, asserted that PM Modi will never compromise with national interest.
“It is a reality that the tariffs that have been imposed (by the US on India) are a unilateral action. PM Narendra Modi is capable of taking whatever necessary steps are required. I have personally experienced that PM Modi will never compromise with national interest,” he said. (ANI)
India tariff news LIVE updates: Imports into the United States fell more than expected in June as concerns around shifting tariff policies hit retailers, raising fears of fewer product options in stores for shoppers, data from the National Retail Federation showed on Friday.
The data comes as several of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs went into effect this week. As of August 7, duties range from 10% to 50%, with India, Brazil, and Switzerland facing some of the highest rates. Read more. (Reuters)
US Senator Lindsey Graham has urged India to use its “influence” to help President Donald Trump to end the “bloodbath” in Ukraine. Reacting to the phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Graham said he hopes the prime minister urged Putin to end the war in Ukraine “justly, honorably and forever”.
“India is the second largest purchaser of Putin’s cheap oil — the proceeds of which fuel his war machine. I hope Prime Minister Modi emphasized to Putin in their recent phone call the need to end this war in Ukraine justly, honorably and forever. I have always believed India has influence in this matter and I am hoping they will use it wisely,” Graham said.
US President Donald Trump is open to holding talks with both Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the US state of Alaska, the White House said on Sunday. The development comes amid efforts to reach a peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
However, the White House has said it is currently planning a bilateral meeting with Putin, news agency Reuters reported, citing an official.
President Donald Trump on Friday hailed his sweeping tariffs as a catalyst for record-breaking stock market gains and a surge in government revenue, while warning of catastrophic consequences if courts overturn his policy.
“Tariffs are having a huge positive impact on the Stock Market. Almost every day, new records are set,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. He claimed “hundreds of billions of dollars” were flowing into US coffers and warned that if a “Radical Left Court” struck down the measures, “it would be 1929 all over again, a GREAT DEPRESSION!”
India tariff news LIVE updates: Union minister Piyush Goyal on Friday asserted that India would not “bow down to anybody” amid tariff tensions with the United States.
At a media summit, Goyal answered a question related to the global tariff war and whether there was an attempt to make the country bow down.
“No one has ever come who could make India bow. It is impossible. Even if someone tries a hundred thousand times, they cannot make India bow,” he said.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday called for supporting the Central government against the “pressure tactics” by US President Donald Trump amid tariff tensions in the national interest.
“The imposition of a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods is a pressure tactic. We, the people of India, should support the government to protect the interests of the country,” Pawar said while addressing a press conference in Nagpur.
“We saw the work style of Trump in his first term as US president earlier. I feel no one has control over him. He speaks impulsively whatever comes to his heart,” he added.
India tariff news LIVE updates: American economist Jeffrey Sachs, in an interview with HT, explained that India should not count on some great trade relationship with the US, even though New Delhi could reduce Washington’s dependence on the Chinese supply chains.
“When I was in India in the spring, I said, don’t count on some great trade relationship. What India has hoped for, I believe, is that it would be a good partner of the United States because it would be a way for the US to, I’ll put it charitably, reduce its dependence on China and increase supply chains with India. I tried to explain, don’t count on that,” said Sachs.
India tariff news LIVE updates: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to discuss cooperation among the BRICS countries, a day after talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid US President Donald Trump slapping steep tariffs on both New Delhi and Brazil.
India on Saturday endorsed the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15. “India welcomes the understanding reached between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in Alaska on 15th August 2025,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
“This meeting holds the promise of bringing to an end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects for peace. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on several occasions, “This is not an era of war”,” it added.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said the countries which are indulging in `dadagiri’ (bullying) in today’s world can do so because they are economically strong and have technology.
“If the rate of our exports and economy increase, then I don’t think we will need to go to anyone. Those who are indulging in `dadagiri’ are doing so because they are economically strong, and they have technology. If we get better technology and resources, we will not bully anyone, because our culture teaches us that welfare of the world is most important,” he said.
“We are facing various problems globally, and the solution to all these problems are science and technology, that is knowledge, which is a power,” he said. (PTI)
While talking about US tariffs on India’s oil purchase from Russia, former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said, “… People who are importing from Russia are objecting to us for importing from Russia. We have to decide from which country we have to import, keeping our national interest in mind…”.
India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra spoke to the United States senator Lindsey Graham and shared the Indian perspective on energy security with him.
In a post on X, he wrote, “Spoke to Senator @LindseyGrahamSC and shared with him the Indian perspective on our energy security including increasing energy trade with the United States.”
American economist Jeffrey Sachs has warned that India would not reap any security benefits by siding with the United States. According to him, US politicians do not care about India.
“US politicians don’t care at all about India. Please understand this. India is not going to reap long-term security by siding with the United States in the Quad against China. India is a great power that has an independent standing in the world. Everything that Trump is doing on tariffs is unconstitutional,” said Sachs during an interview with Hindustan Times.
India tariff news LIVE updates: India may slap tariff countermeasures on select American commodities, a retaliation to Washington’s move to impose a steep 50% duty in June on steel, aluminium and their derivatives from India, people aware of the matter have said.
To be sure, the levies on steel and aluminium have played out as a parallel trade dispute at the World Trade Organization, but its timing would make it the first Indian retaliation since Trump’s July 31 announcement of the 25% tariff on all Indian goods entering the US when trade talks failed to reach a breakthrough and his subsequent penalties over Russian oil purchases announced on August 6. Read more.