The sky-high rate leaves India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, facing a likely slump in trade with its largest export market. The levies also threaten India’s export competitiveness against rivals like China and Vietnam, while raising questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitions to transform the South Asian nation into a major manufacturing hub.
President Donald Trump imposed a crushing 50% tariff on some Indian goods — the highest in Asia — to punish the country for buying Russian oil, upending a decades-long push by Washington to forge closer ties with New Delhi.
The new tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. in Washington on Wednesday, doubling the existing 25% duty on Indian exports. Trump has slammed India for buying Russian oil, which he said was funding President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. New Delhi has defended its ties with Russia and has called the US’s actions “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”
