Trump announces 25% tariffs: PM, ministers in huddle; Oppn seeks response

A little after US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods from August 1, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi held a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and senior officials at his office in Parliament House to assess the implications.

 

Opposition parties said they would demand a statement from the government in Parliament on the impact of the US tariffs on India. They pointed out that the PM’s friendship with Trump has meant little, urged the PM to stand up to the American President, and protect India’s sovereignty.

 

 

Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an economic think tank affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said the country needs to safeguard its food security, national security, and health security, even if it comes at the cost of trade with the US.

 

During the India–US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations, SJM and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh had cautioned the government not to surrender the interests of India’s farmers and entrepreneurs. These RSS affiliates appreciated the government’s statement, issued late in the evening. In it, the government said it “attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and micro, small and medium enterprises”.

 

SJM’s National Co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan told Business Standard that the US had violated the rules-based international trade order it has espoused in the past by bringing in non-trade issues, such as India’s ties with Russia. “On defence purchases, we have to safeguard our interests and become self-reliant. We know that we are better off dealing with Russia to achieve that objective, and the joint development of the BrahMos missile is an example of that,” Mahajan said, arguing that India cannot stop buying Russian oil. He said the impact on trade with the US will be relative and should be seen in the context of the tariffs the US has imposed on other countries. Mahajan noted that several other countries have also not signed trade deals with the US.

 

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said Modi should take inspiration from former PM Indira Gandhi and stand up to the US President. “President Trump has slapped a tariff of 25 per cent plus penalty on imports from India. All that ‘taarif’ (praise) between him and ‘Howdy Modi’ has meant little,” Ramesh said in a post on X. “Mr Modi thought that if he kept quiet on the insults the US President has hurled at India — the 30 claims of stopping Operation Sindoor, the special lunch for the Pakistan Army Chief whose inflammatory remarks provided the immediate backdrop to the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks, and US support for financial packages to Pakistan from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank — India would get special treatment at the hands of President Trump. Clearly, that has not happened,” he added. “He should take inspiration from Indira Gandhi and stand up to the US President,” the Congress leader said. 

 

In its statement, issued after the meeting chaired by the PM, the government said it had taken note of the US President’s statement on bilateral trade, was studying its implications, and remained committed to the objective of concluding “a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial” BTA. It said the government would take all steps necessary to secure India’s national interest, as has been the case with other trade agreements, including the latest Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the UK.

 

In a post on Facebook, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said Trump was punishing India not just for what he calls India’s high tariffs and “obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers”, but also for buying military equipment and energy from Russia. “In other words, for not becoming exclusively dependent on the US. Can there be a more brazen attack on India’s sovereignty? The more the Modi government surrenders and keeps quiet, the more the Trump administration blackmails and pressurises India,” he said.

 

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha (RS) leader Derek O’Brien shared a video of the PM and Trump on X, where the PM is heard saying, “We in India have connected well with President Trump,” and urged Indian Americans to vote for Trump by raising the slogan “Abki baar Trump Sarkar”.

 

Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met with protests from Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) when, a little after 7 pm, he rose to reply to the discussion on Operation Sindoor in the RS.

 

The INDIA bloc MPs demanded that Modi reply to the debate, but Shah pointed out that the PM was indeed in the Parliament House premises and indicated that he was holding an important meeting. At this, Opposition MPs staged a walkout.