Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday that he did not compromise the agricultural sector, one day after the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods.
Washington announced the walk in Levies on Wednesday, citing the purchase of New Delhi of Russian oil, a key source of income for the Moscow War in Ukraine.
For New Delhi, one of the main conflict points in trade negotiations has been Washington’s demand to access the vast agricultural and dairy market of India.
India has remained firm about its intensive agricultural sector, is not willing to risk angry farmers, a powerful voting block.
“We will not commit ourselves to the interests of our farmers, our dairy sector, our fishermen,” Modi said during a speech at a conference in New Delhi, his widely seen comments as their first public response to tariffs.
“I know I will have to pay a personal price for this, but I am ready for it,” he added, without giving more details.
India has also refused to allow the importation of genetically modified products.
In addition, New Delhi fears that allowing the import of dairy products can alter the cultural and religious sensibilities of the majority of India, who venerate cows as sacred.
It seems very far from the first hopes of India for a special tariff treatment.
In February, Trump said he found a “special link” with Modi when he visited Washington, congratulating Modi as a “much harder negotiator” than him.
The successive US administrations have seen India, the most populous nation in the world and the fifth largest economy, as a key partner, with interests of related ideas against the powerful China.
India and the Chinese neighbor have long been rivals that compete for the strategic influence in southern Asia.
Meanwhile, Modi, according to Indian media but not confirmed by officials, can visit China at the end of August, which would be their first visit since 2018.
The president of Modi and China, Xi Jinping, met for the last time in Russia in October 2024.
Indian exporters warned that additional US tariffs.
The shares opened marginally lower on Thursday, with the NIFTY reference index 0.31 percent after an initial 25 percent tariff entered into force.
India is the second largest buyer of Russian oil, saving billions of crude oil with discount.
The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Trump’s announcement as more tariffs, qualifying the measure in “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”
SC Ralhan, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), said he feared a worrying impact.
“This movement is a severe setback for Indian exports, with almost 55 percent of our shipments to the US market directly affected,” he said in a statement.
“The 50PC reciprocal tariff effectively imposes a cost load, placing our exporters at a competitive disadvantage of 30-35 pieces compared to colleagues in countries with a lower reciprocal rate.”
Ralhan said that “many export orders have already been suspended” as buyers reassess supply decisions.
For “a large number” of small to medium -sized companies, the profits “margins are already thin,” he said.
“The absorption of this sudden cost escalation is simply not viable,” he added.
India is preparing for a trip full of potholes, since the United States is its largest commercial partner, with New Delhi shipping products worth $ 87.4 billion in 2024.
“If the additional rate of 25 percent that President Trump has announced about Indian imports follows in place, the appeal of India as an emerging manufacturing center will be very underminated,” said Shilan Shah of Capital Economics in a note.
Shah said Shah, Shah said.
But a 50 percent tariff is “large enough to have a material impact,” he added, with the resulting fall in exports, which means that the economy would grow closer to 6 percent this year and then, below the 7pc that currently predict.
