Friends? Trump announces 25 percent plus tariff on India from Aug 1

New Delhi/Washington: US President Donald Trump has announced a 25 percent plus tariff on India from Aug 1. Trump, describing India as a "friend", said the US has done relatively "little business" with the country because its high tariffs.

In a surprising move Trump made a sudden announcement of slapping 25% tariff on India while earlier he maintained that a delegation will visit India in relation to further negotiation on tariff. It is pertinent to mention that Trump further gave 90 days time to China despite calling the country an adversary.

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Is Trump trying to control India?

India's tariffs are far too high, and they have the "most strenuous" and "obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers", he said in a social media post.

India will be paying 25 percent plus penalty starting August 1. In his X post, Trump menbtioned, "Also, they (India) have always bought a wast majority of their military equipment from Russia and Russia‘s largest buyer of energy along with China. At a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine".

Many trade experts say that the sudden move to announce tariff on India is a part of Trump's pressure-building tactics. The US president has clearly mentioned in his X post that he does not like India doing business with India. Since Trump is not able to excerise any control over Russia, he decided to slap a Russia ally with sudden annocement of tariff.

Will US Tariff impact markets in India?

There was some movement seen in the market in last a couple of days when FIIs withdrew their money in large numbers. May be they had an idea of something like this coming up. Trade pundits, however, have suggested investors to be cautious and not anxious. There will definitely be some stop losses and lower circuits, but these are times to apply patience and discretion. For long term investors, it should not be a big deal as they have seen far worse.

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