MUMBAI – India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, announced on August 23 that while trade negotiations with the United States are ongoing, India has vital interests it must protect as significant new US tariffs come into effect.
Indian exports now face additional US tariffs totaling up to 50%. These are among the highest imposed by Washington and result from New Delhi’s increased Russian oil imports. An initial 25% tariff is already in place, with another 25% set to be enforced on August 27.
A planned visit of US trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25 to 29 has been called off, eliminating hopes of a last-minute reduction or postponement of the levies.
“We have some redlines in the negotiations, to be maintained and defended,” Jaishankar said at an event in New Delhi, highlighting the interests of India’s farmers and small producers.
Talks collapsed earlier this year due to India’s refusal to open its sizeable agricultural and dairy markets. Bilateral trade between the world’s largest and fifth-largest economies is valued at more than $190 billion. Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s stance, stating, “It is our right to make decisions in our national interest.”
Analysts indicated that if all new tariffs remain in place, India’s economic growth could be reduced by 0.8 percentage points this year and next. The longer-term impact could be even more significant, as steep tariffs threaten India’s prospects as a global manufacturing hub.
Jaishankar also described the US approach under President Donald Trump as unusually public and a clear departure from past diplomatic traditions. He pointed out that US concerns over Indian imports of Russian oil are not applied equally to other major buyers such as China and the European Union. He emphasized that Russia’s trade with Europe is larger than its trade with India.
The minister noted that India’s purchases of Russian oil had not been raised in previous trade discussions with the US and only became an issue after Washington publicly announced the new tariffs.
With India holding firm on its “red lines” and the US ready to implement its steepest-ever tariffs on Indian goods, the next phase of trade relations between the two countries remains highly uncertain.