Egregious US tariffs on India are a colossal blunder

 
India will not “bow down” to the United States and will instead turn its attention to attracting new markets; its trade minister has said, in his first public remarks since the White House imposed stiff 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods took effect, reports Al Jazeera.

Speaking at a construction industry event in New Delhi on Friday, Piyush Goyal said India was “always ready if anyone wants to have a free trade agreement with us”. But, Piyush Goyal added, India will neither bow down nor ever appear weak.

“We will continue to move together and capture new markets” Piyush Goyal further said.

The remarks came as the steep tariffs on many Indian imports into the US took effect this week as punishment for New Delhi’s massive purchases of Russian oil, part of US efforts to pressure Moscow into ending its more than three-year war in Ukraine.

Since his return to the White House this year, US President Donald Trump has wielded tariffs as a wide-ranging policy tool, with the levies upending global trade. The latest tariff salvo from Donald Trump has strained US-India ties, with New Delhi earlier criticizing the levies as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.

Trade talks between the USA and India have stumbled over agriculture and dairy markets. Trump wants greater US access, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is determined to shield India’s farmers, a huge voter bloc. The US was India’s top export destination in 2024, with shipments worth $87.3bn. Financial analysts have cautioned that a 50 percent duty is akin to a trade embargo and is likely to harm smaller firms in India.

Exporters of textiles, seafood and jewelry have already reportedly cancelled US orders amid losses to rivals such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, raising fears of heavy job cuts. Piyul Goyal said on Friday the government would release several measures in the coming days to support every sector and boost exports. “I can say with confidence that India’s exports this year will exceed 2024-25 numbers.”

John Mearsheimer, a leading American international relations expert and Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, has termed the Trump administration's India policy a "colossal blunder" and asserted that secondary tariffs on India for buying Russian oil "won't work."

"This is a colossal blunder on our part. It's hard to believe, but what's going on here? It (secondary sanctions) won't work with India. The Indians have made it clear that they will not cut off the importation of oil from Russia. Indians are not going to cave," he told the podcast platform "Daniel Davis Deep Dive" last week.