Government’s first reaction to Donald Trump’s tariff announcement, will take every necessary step to protect the country’s interests…

New Delhi. Hours after US President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian items, the Government of India said that the government will take strong steps to protect the interests of farmers, entrepreneurs and MSMEs while continuing trade talks with the US. India said, “The government gives the highest importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs and MSMEs. The government will take all necessary steps to protect our national interests, as has been done in the case of other trade agreements including the economic and trade agreement with the UK.”

India said that while opening its markets to foreign players, it is also sensitive to the protection of the interests of domestic players. For this, India cited the recent free trade agreement with Britain.

Which sectors of India will be affected?
The new tariff plans announced by Trump will apply to several of India’s best-performing export sectors. Automobiles, auto components, steel, aluminium, smartphones, solar modules, marine products, gems and jewellery, and select processed food and agricultural products are all included in the list of 25 percent tariffs. However, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and critical minerals have been excluded from it.

Meanwhile, economists are talking about India building deeper economic ties with other countries, exploring new markets and seeing a new opportunity in its country. This will lead to reforms as global supply chains are rebalanced amid the changing geopolitics driven by Trump’s aggressive trade policies.

What does the US want?
The US is demanding India to open markets for its agricultural and dairy products and genetically modified crops and reduce tariffs on them. The US wants India to remove or reduce tariffs up to 100 percent in these sectors. India does not agree to this. The reason for India not agreeing is that a large section of the society will be affected by this. It can especially affect small farmers.