Our Bureau
New Delhi
The additional tariffs that were imposed by the President of the United States, Donald Trump came into effect from today, August 27th. Talking about the imposition of 50% tariffs, former Niti Aayog CEO and former G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant has stated that this should be a wake up call for India and they should fight back rather than bowing to the global pressure.
President Trump, earlier this month, had imposed an additional 25% tariffs on India taking the total to 50% import duties on Indian goods. He stated India’s connection with Russia and the import of Russian crude oil as the reason behind the penalties that he imposed.
However, Kant doesn’t believe that it is about Russian oil. In a post on his X handle, Kant highlighted that this is being done to intimidate India. He highlighted how the US is negotiating with China who is the largest buyer of Russian Oil but is penalising India for the same. He stated that this tariff strike was about India’s growing energy security and strategic autonomy.
“Trump’s tariffs must be a wake-up call for India. The irony is striking: the U.S. is actively negotiating with Russia and China, the latter being the largest buyer of Russian oil, yet chooses to target India with tariffs instead. Let us be clear, this is not about Russian oil. It is about India’s energy security and strategic autonomy, which we should never compromise. India has, on numerous occasions, refused to yield to global pressure. This moment should be no different,” Kant said.
“Rather than intimidating India, these global headwinds must galvanise India into bold, once-in-a-generation reforms, while also diversifying our export markets to secure long-term growth and resilience,” he added.
The Indian government, on the other hand, has condemned the “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” imposition of tariffs that will most likely impact sectors such as textiles, marine and leather exports hard.
