On the topic of so-called “tariff wars,” on Aug. 16 Asia Times ran an article by journalist Ricardo Martins under the headline, “India’s Hand in Trump Tariff Row Stronger Than It Looks.” Martins musters economic data demonstrating a decade of transformation inside India which situates it in a strong position to resist any fallout from President Trump’s Aug. 6 executive order imposing a 50% tariff on Indian exports to the U.S. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he noted, “denounced the measures as ‘unfair and unjustified.’” Speaking to a rally in Gujarat, Modi declared, “We will protect our farmers and our domestic interests, even if we must pay a heavy price,” the article quotes him saying.
Martins provides economic data and realities to show that India is in a fairly solid position to withstand some of the fallout from the new tariff. The picture of India’s strength in standing up to the new tariff manifold is shown by the fact that “India announced a pause on planned U.S. defense acquisitions,” and that “senior [Indian] officials have begun” to map out “counter-moves” including “deeper integration with BRICS partners and other non-Western economies.”
Martins pointed out that “India’s trade with Russia” surged to “$65-69 billion last fiscal year,” and that this trade was largely “settled in rupees and rubles.” He also shows that “India’s role in critical supply chains gives it” leverage, e.g., it “produces about 60% of the world’s generic medicines and exported $28 billion worth of pharmaceuticals in 2023-24.” Another example Martins gives is India’s lead in IT and ICT services exports now “worth roughly $150 billion annually” which are heavily ensconced in U.S. corporate operations, “from Silicon Valley’s software pipelines to Wall Street’s” offices. He asserts, “Tariffs on Indian goods thus risk boomeranging onto American companies and consumers.”
