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US' doubling of tariffs on Indian goods takes effect

Global Times

Duties may impact India's national pride, prompt country to reconsider diplomatic strategy: expert

By Zhao Yusha Published: Aug 27, 2025 11:51 PM

US administration's steep 50 percent tariffs on India have taken effect on Wednesday, which makes India among the countries paying the highest tariffs in the world. Indian officials urged citizens to buy more products made in the country.

The deepening rift between India and the US has gone beyond tariff numbers. Within India, the tariffs have not only stirred nationalist sentiment but also serve as a wake-up call, prompting the country to reconsider its diplomatic strategy, said Chinese experts on Wednesday.

A punitive 25 percent tariff imposed due to India's purchases of Russian oil adds to US President Donald Trump's prior 25 percent tariff on many products from India. It takes total duties to as high as 50 percent for goods such as garments, gems and jewelry, footwear, sporting goods, furniture and chemicals - among the highest imposed by the US, Reuters reported.

The Indian government estimates the tariffs will impact $48.2 billion worth of exports. Officials have warned the new duties could make shipments to the US commercially unviable, triggering job losses and slower economic growth, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Tuesday.

Calling Wednesday a "T-Day," Times of India reported on Wednesday that the range of reasons for the tariffs provided by US officials and others - including India's purchase of Russian oil and New Delhi's role in BRICS' purported attempt to undermine the US dollar, to New Delhi not recognizing US President's "self-professed role" in bringing about a truce between India and Pakistan - are "clearly disproportionate and vengeful tariffs."

The trade dispute appeared to have upset Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, according to a German newspaper on Tuesday, had refused to take four calls from US President Trump in recent weeks.

"There are signs indicating that Modi felt insulted," the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung claimed without providing the source.

According to the Times of India, officials in Washington declined to confirm or deny if the calls were made, but a key Indian diplomat said in a background conversation earlier this month that it is not Modi's style to negotiate details over the phone.

Modi has vowed not to yield to the US' pressure, media reported.

"For me, the interests of farmers, small businesses and dairy are topmost. My government will ensure they aren't impacted," Modi said at a rally this week in his home state of Gujarat. He said the world was witnessing a "politics of economic selfishness," according to the AP.

A US delegation cancelled plans to visit New Delhi this week for a sixth round of trade talks, per the report.

Syed Akbaruddin, India's former ambassador to the UN, said the new levies are being seen in India as "more than a trade dispute." "Their imposition is viewed as a blow to confidence in the India-US partnership," Akbaruddin said. "If left unchecked, these could erode two decades of strategic convergence," Politico reported on Tuesday.

Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times that the spat has already gone beyond the question of tariff rates, striking at the very foundations of cooperation between New Delhi and Washington, noting such a move has dealt a heavy blow to India's national pride.

Once the damage is done, Qian argued, it will be difficult for India and the US to return to the pre tariff spat days.

Eggs in more baskets

The Indian government is pushing a "Swadeshi" mantra to reduce the economy's reliance on exports, with Prime Minister Modi calling on Indians to be "vocal for local" and buy Indian goods on Tuesday, according to the Hindu.

As for the Russian oil purchasing, Indian media reported that Indian refineries are maintaining Russia oil imports, prioritizing national interests in ongoing trade discussions. Government officials and industry executives suggest India is firm in its stance, believing that conceding on oil could invite further demands, per Indian media.

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has also highlighted that India's recent experience taught the country the importance of avoiding reliance on a single supply chain or market, according to Times of India.

"Diversifying its markets will be India's new path to safeguard its interests. However, the US is likely to ratchet up pressure on India, both on the trade and geopolitical fronts, in pursuit of its goal," Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.