US Tariffs up to 50% Now Imposed on Indian Goods

TaiwanPlus News

US tariffs of up to 50% are now in place on Indian goods. The US is India's biggest export market, and the tariffs not only put exporters at risk, but are bringing India-US ties to a low point.

Transcript

00:00Leather workers at this factory in Kanpur, India are busy readying handbags for export.

00:07But starting from today, their livelihoods could be at stake.

00:11The U.S. is now imposing tariffs of up to 50 percent on Indian goods.

00:15And exporters like the owners of this factory are bracing for impact as U.S. clients cancel orders.

00:21The situation is really bad now.

00:27We send our products to other countries and produce for local markets as well.

00:31Some factories are working.

00:33However, there are many factories that were totally dependent on the U.S. market.

00:37They have stopped all work.

00:42The tariff rate on India is among the most punitive the U.S. Trump administration has rolled out,

00:47meaning other countries that make similar goods will have an advantage over India in the U.S. market.

00:54It's a potential catastrophe.

00:56The U.S. is India's biggest export market, worth more than 86 billion U.S. dollars a year.

01:02And the tariffs could also hurt India's growing status as a manufacturing center.

01:07The high rate is meant to punish India for continuing to buy Russian oil,

01:11as Trump tries to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

01:14But some in India see hypocrisy in the measure.

01:17Europe and America both buy so many materials from Russia.

01:21And we read that one of the American companies, Standard Oil, they are thinking of buying Russian oil fields.

01:28So America and its allies, they are totally engaged with Russia.

01:33And for India, Russian oil, sold at a discount, allows large savings while giving its more than a billion people affordable energy.

01:44Not all Indians are alarmed at the tariffs.

01:46Some in the garment industry, for instance, even think it will soon be business as usual again.

01:51The big effect, I would say, temporarily, for a few weeks or months.

01:57Then things will become normal because the importers, brands will adjust to their price levels.

02:03But on the streets of the capital, New Delhi, there's a feeling of being wronged.

02:07And some say it's important for India to start moving past its reliance on the U.S.

02:12We should try to sell our products within our country as much as possible.

02:19And if we have to export, we should reach out to other nations instead of the U.S.

02:23For instance, Russia has been a good friend, or even the Middle Eastern nations.

02:27So we should export to these nations.

02:29However, we should not be scared of the tariffs imposed by the U.S.

02:33And we should keep our stance clear.

02:35Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi once considered each other good friends.

02:40But relations are now at a low point.

02:42And with the punishing tariffs now in place,

02:44patching up ties between the world's two biggest democracies may not be easy.

02:49John Hsu and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.

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