Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed a 25% tariff on goods imported from India starting August 1, along with an unspecified penalty for buying Russian weapons and oil, potentially straining relations with the world’s most populous democracy.
The U.S. decision singles out India more severely than other major trading partners, and threatens to unravel months of talks between the two countries, undermining a key strategic partner of Washington’s and a counterbalance to China.
“While India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!”
The White House has previously warned India about its high average applied tariffs – nearly 39% on agricultural products – with rates climbing to 45% on vegetable oils and around 50% on apples and corn.
Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India during the first six months of 2025, making up 35% of overall supplies.
The U.S. currently has a $45.7 billion trade deficit with India.
The news pushed the Indian rupee down 0.4% to around 87.80 against the U.S. dollar in the non-deliverable forwards market, from its close at 87.42 during market hours. Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,692 points, down 0.6%.
CONTENTIOUS ISSUES
“Higher tariffs for India compared to countries it competes with, for exports to the U.S., are going to be challenging,” said Ranen Banerjee, a partner of economic advisory services at PwC India.
India’s commerce ministry, which is leading the trade talks, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. and Indian negotiators had held multiple rounds of discussions to resolve contentious issues, particularly over market access into India for U.S. agricultural and dairy products.
Despite progress in some areas, Indian officials resisted opening the domestic market to imports of wheat, corn, rice and genetically modified soybeans, citing risks to the livelihood of millions of Indian farmers.
The U.S. had flagged concerns over India’s increasing and burdensome import-quality requirements, among its many barriers to trade, in a report released in March.
The new tariffs are expected to impact India’s goods exports to the U.S., estimated at around $87 billion in 2024, including labour-intensive products such as garments, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewelry, and petrochemicals.
India now joins a growing list of countries facing higher tariffs under Trump’s “Liberation Day” trade policy, aimed at reshaping U.S. trade relations by demanding greater reciprocity.
The setback comes despite earlier commitments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump to conclude the first phase of a trade deal by autumn 2025 and expand bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, from $191 billion in 2024.
Indian officials have previously indicated that they view the U.S. as a key strategic partner, particularly in counterbalancing China. But they have emphasized the need to preserve policy space on agriculture, data governance, and state subsidies.
HOPES FOR A DEAL
It was not immediately clear whether the announcement was a negotiating tactic. While Trump railed against Japan in a June 30 Truth Social post and said there would likely be no deal with the North Asian nation, a deal was agreed on July 22.
An Indian government official told Reuters that New Delhi continued to remain engaged with the United States to seal an agreement.
Economists, too, remained hopeful.
“While the negotiations seems to have broken down, we don’t think the trade-deal haggling between the two nations is over yet,” Madhavi Arora, an economist at Emkay Global.
(Reuters)