Trump’s Tariffs on India highlights: Sensex falls 800 points, Trump launches fresh attack on India for Russia ties

With Donald Trump’s harsh tariffs against India set to kick in from Friday, the world’s fifth-largest economy is bracing for a bumpy ride.

The US president on Wednesday said New Delhi would face 25 percent tariffs and a separate “penalty” for purchases of Russian weapons and energy.

Trump later told reporters talks on New Delhi’s tolls were ongoing and “we’ll see what happens”, but did not elaborate.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said on Thursday that the Indian economy is among the top five economies of the world and calling it “dead” can only come from a position of “arrogance” or “ignorance”.

Her remarks came after US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of a 25-per cent tariff and penalties on India, and called India and Russia “dead economies”.

“Not that one needs to say it there’s enough legitimate data available to know that Indian economy is in the top 5 of the world and one of the fastest growing economies. Calling it a dead economy can only come from a position of arrogance or ignorance. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Chaurvedi said in a post on X.

Janata Dal United MP Sanjay Kumar Jha on Thursday said that the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are capable of finding solutions to the 25 per cent tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on the country’s exports.

Sanjay Kumar Jha’s remarks came after the US President, in a social media post on his Truth Social Account, announced 25 per cent tariffs on India starting August 1. Trump also said India will face additional penalties for purchasing oil from Russia.

Speaking with ANI, Sanjay Kumar Jha said, “This is not new. There was information that different nations were imposed with varying rates of tariffs. The government will do what is in the best interest of the country. The government will work in the interest of the agriculture and the MSME sector. The government has also stated that the negotiations are ongoing. The government and PM Modi are capable of finding a solution.”

The recent announcement by US President Donald Trump to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports will severely impact India’s gem and jewellery industry, a major contributor to the country’s export economy, highlighted the jewellery manufacturers and exporters in a conversation with ANI.

Rajesh Rokde, Chairman of the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council, said, “The handmade jewellery exports could be hit hard. These products may no longer be accepted or sold there.”

He added that when the US earlier imposed a 10 per cent tariff, nearly 50,000 workers in the industry reportedly were affected.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said everybody except Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman know that India is a “dead economy”, as he alleged that the BJP-led government has destroyed India’s economic, defence and foreign policies.

Speaking with reporters in the Parliament House complex, Gandhi also claimed that a trade deal with the US will happen and Trump will define it, while Prime Minister Modi will do what the American President tells him to do.

Gandhi’s remarks came after US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of 25 per cent tariff and penalties on India and called India and Russia “dead economies”.

Samajwadi Party chief and Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav criticised the Centre’s handling of foreign policy, calling the current developments the “beginning of bad days.”

“For the last 11 years, this government has kept making claims of friendship, and today we are seeing the results. This is the beginning of bad days. The youth of this country need jobs. If the economy improves, employment will be available. If there are such hindrances, what will happen to the economy of our country?” Yadav told reporters.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi after US President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on India and claims of averting a war between India and Pakistan, saying the Prime Minister “goes everywhere” and “then this is what we get”

Speaking to reporters, Vadra said, “Everybody has seen what the American President has said about tariffs, and he repeated that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan. India will have to respond to both issues. PM Modi goes everywhere, makes friends, and then this is what we get.”

Former Union Home Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday took a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the 25 per cent tariff on all Indian exports to the United States and penalty for buying Russian oil is a “big blow” to India’s trade with the US

Chidambaram called the tariffs a “big blow” for India’s trade, and also argued that they are “a clear violation” of the World Trade Organisation’s rules.

In a post on X, Chidambaram said, “The 25 per cent tariff on all Indian exports to the United States PLUS penalty for buying Russian oil is a big blow to India’s trade with the U.S. ‘Dosti’ is no substitute for diplomacy and painstaking negotiations The tariff imposed by the U.S. is a clear violation of the WTO rules.”

Import duty makes goods expensive in the importing country. Besides, a few other factors also play a role in this. For example, duty on India’s competitor nations such as Bangladesh (35 pc), Vietnam (20 pc) and Thailand (36 pc); and quality and standards of items.

According to exporters, Indian labour-intensive goods such as garments, leather and non-leather footwear, gems and jewellery, carpets and handicrafts may get impacted due to this duty.

Former World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu on Thursday said the US economic policy towards India has taken an unfortunate turn, noting that President Donald Trump’s harsh stance against New Delhi appears baffling.

“US economic policy towards India has taken an unfortunate turn,” Basu told PTI.

He further said that, while arguing that the US has a big trade deficit with India, the US announced a hefty tariff on Indian imports.

After US President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on India, the Congress on Thursday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he once spoke of the TOP — Tomato, Onion, Potato — challenges in prices, but the country now has to contend with the political challenges arising out of CAP -China, America, Pakistan.

The rupee extended its losses, weakening toward a record low after US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose tariffs of at least 25% on Indian exports, higher than previously anticipated.

The currency fell as much as 0.4% to 87.7375 per dollar in early Mumbai trading, approaching the all-time low of 87.9563 reached in February. Equities also declined, with the NSE Nifty 50 Index falling as much as 0.9%.

Day after imposing 25% tarrif on Indian exports to the US, President Donald Trump refered to India and Russia as “dead economies” and said, “They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.”

“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” Trump said in a new post on TRUTH social. Read more

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, effective August 1, citing India’s “obnoxious” trade barriers and close ties with Russia for defence and energy.

The move, though not entirely unexpected, has triggered unease among Indian policymakers, exporters, and market participants, given the ambiguity around additional penalties Trump promised for India’s Russian transactions. Read more

Trump’s post on TRUTH Social and latest comments by National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett shed light on why the US President have imposed such huge tariff against India.

Hassett reportedly said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump is “frustrated” with the lack of progress on trade talks with India. He indicated that Trump was upset over the way negotiations on the proposed bilateral trade deal were held. Read more

The Indian stock market suffered significant losses across segments in the morning session on Thursday, July 31, with the benchmark Sensex crashing nearly 800 points and the Nifty 50 plunging below 24,650.

A massive selloff engulfed the domestic stock market a day after US President Donald Trump slapped a 25 per cent tariff on most Indian imports to the US. Read more.

US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from India starting August 1, plus an unspecified penalty, is expected to impact Apple’s plans to expand iPhone manufacturing in India as well as export of other electronics to the US.

The move comes at a time when Indian electronics production is reeling under pressure due to restrictions imposed by China on supply of several critical components, capital goods and even skilled technology professionals.

According to industry experts, while Chinese restrictions may slow down production, US tariff will impact exports of electronics from India.

Indian shares are set to open lower on Thursday after US President Donald Trump threatened a 25% tariff on goods imported from the country starting August 1 and an unspecified penalty.

The 25% figure would single out India more severely than other major trading partners, and threaten to unravel months of talks between the two countries.

After announcing the tariffs, Trump said the US is still negotiating with India on trade.

The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,685 points as of 7:58 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 will open about 0.7% lower than its previous close of 24,855.05.

Indian government bonds are expected to decline in early deals on Thursday, with the yield crossing key levels, as the local currency is set to drop further, while hawkish commentary from the U.S. central bank will also hurt investors.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond is likely to move between 6.36% and 6.40%, a trader at a private bank told Reuters, after closing at 6.3700% on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25 per cent tariffs and additional penalties on imports of goods from India from August 1 has drawn concerns from industry leaders and trade experts for its impact on India’s export but experts said it is also an opportunity for India to scale up and diversify with FTAs being finalized with several countries.

They also said that India will not be impacted to a very great extent due to some of the competing markets facing higher tariffs from the United States.

“This is typical Trump trying to create as much pressure and chaos on a bilateral basis as possible, so that he can in the end claim victory by solving or at least ameliorating the problem which he’s created…There is no need to panic and there should be saner heads on both the US and Indian side that can come to an agreement,” says former United States Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development, Ray Vickery.

“The announcement is coming in the context of the August 1 deadline and President Trump is obviously not looking to extend the deadline again and this time he wants to actually impose tariffs and use that as a leverage tool in the negotiation process…The imposition of tariffs has more to do with President Trump and the US not getting the expectations that they have out of India. India, on the other hand, is ready to concede what it is looking to do with other complementary economies like we’ve seen with the UK recently, but the US here clearly wants to go a few steps ahead,” says fellow for the Chair on India and Emerging Asia Economics at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Gaurav Sansanwal.

Economist Suriya Narayanan reacted to the 25 per cent tariffs imposed on India by the United States President Donald Trump, calling it a setback for the country, with the move expected to impact Indian trade and exporters.

While speaking to ANI, Economist Suriya Narayanan stated, “This is a setback to India because India was exporting pharmaceuticals, copper, metals and more with zero tariffs. Now India has to pay for products exported to the US. This will impact the Indian exporters… This will impact the Indian trade, and Indian exporters expect some concessions… The American trade team will visit India on 25th August to further talk on this…”

Chairman of the Tourism Expert Committee at the Chamber of Commerce, Subhash Goyal, on Wednesday said that the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports by US President Donald Trump would negatively impact Indian exports and have a ripple effect on the country’s manufacturing sector.

“It is a sad day for Indian exports because India is doing exports worth over 100 billion dollars and our surplus is over $40 billion. It will slow down some of our exports and there will be a ripple effect on our manufacturing, particularly in carpet, pharmaceuticals and handicrafts sectors…” Goyal told ANI.

Chairman of the Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), Pavan Choudary, on Wednesday termed US President Donald Trump’s announcement to impose steep tariffs on Indian goods from August 1 as “troubling,” calling it “economically shortsighted and strategically misguided.”

In a press statement, Pavan Choudary said, “Donald Trump’s announcement today on Truth Social declaring steep tariffs on India from August 1 is troubling and seems economically shortsighted and strategically misguided.”

“I would urge both the US and India to have continuation of dialogue because ultimately, it is in India’s interest to have a trading relationship with its largest trading partner, the United States. It is in the United States’ interest to have a trade agreement with India. Both India and the United States have a long way to go to outcompete their strategic competition and adversaries. So, there’s a lot at stake here for both countries…The President is not signalling a lack of confidence or a lack of interest in this strategic partnership. He’s simply deploying a negotiating tactic that he has used in the past with very close partners and allies…I hope that our Indian friends will keep that in mind as well as they work through these issues,” says former US Assistant State Secretary, Nisha Biswal.

“The 25% tariff rate is certainly a negative development as it compares to lower rate for peers such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines which compete with India in a similar category of labour-intensive products and electronic goods. The currency market had clearly priced this eventually as the USDINR pair moved by more than 70 paise today. The exact details of the tariffs on the exempted items such as pharma and the ones that were charged at a differential rate such as iron, steel and auto is unknown as of now, but inclusion of pharma into tariffs should be incremental negative for India’s exports as US accounts for more than 30% of India’s pharma exports. If no deal is signed by Sept-October, we see a downside to full year GDP growth estimate for India by 20 bps,” says Garima Kapoor, Economist and Executive Vice President, Elara Capital.

“We had a tremendous trade deficit. Prime Minister Modi is a friend of mine, but they don’t do very much business in terms of business with us. They sell a lot to us, but we don’t buy from them. Because the tariff is so high. They have one of the highest tariffs in the world. Now, they are willing to cut it very substantially. But we will see what happens. We are talking to India now. We will see what happens. It doesn’t matter too much whether we have a deal or we charge them a certain tariff. But you will know at the end of this week,” Donald Trump said.

“We are negotiating right now and it’s also BRICS. BRICS, which is basically a group of countries that are anti the United States and India is a member of that…It is an attack on the dollar and we are not going to let anybody attack the dollar. So it’s partially BRICS and it’s partially trade,” Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

CEO and Secretary General of PHDCCI, Ranjeet Mehta, said: “We are now entering an era of new alignments in the global supply chain. The US is also recalibrating its trade policy by imposing tariffs on major exporting economies like China, Vietnam, Bangladesh and India. There will be a momentary impact on our MSMEs, but we see this as an opportunity, also. This is the time that India scales it up. We need to be more competitive and we need to see the diversified market. We have the demographic dividend, technological agility, and entrepreneurial depth.” (ANI)

Avinash Gupta, Vice Chairman of the All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council, highlighted that a key advantage during US trade tensions is India’s existing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with countries like the UK and Australia.

“Definitely, it will affect the Gem and Jewellery Industry, but the best part is that the Indian Government has done FTAs with the UK, Australia and other countries also, so we have much more options available than the US only. We will have many more options for exporting to other countries. It will hurt us as the US is a big market for the Gem and Jewelery industry. It will affect us, but it will not hamper us,” Gupta told ANI.

“Given the current scenario, India has already found alternative routes. We have recently finalised agreements with the Middle East and the European Union, so India has many options now. Hence, the greater impact might fall on the US. The US’s tariff policy seems quite complicated. The global tariff war they have initiated is not a good sign. This will also affect the US economy,” Rajesh Rokde, Chairman of the All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council, said.

“This is very unfortunate. The tariff that will be implemented from August 1 is not only painful for India but could also significantly hurt the US. I believe that imposing tariffs negatively affects businesses. India exports jewellery to the entire world. If we look at the numbers, trade worth nearly 9 billion dollars takes place with the US. This will be 100 percent affected. The handmade jewellery that is appreciated there will also be impacted. It will become more expensive in the US. This will be a very unfortunate situation for the jewellery industry,” Rajesh Rokde, Chairman of the All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council, said.

US tariffs on India Live: Leaders in India’s gems and jewellery sector raised concern, warning that imposing 25% tariffs could cause short-term disruptions, job losses, and higher prices for US buyers, reported ANI.

Trump tariffs LIVE:  Indian trade bodies have voiced disappointment over US President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff, calling it a blow to Indian exports. However, they also pointed to possible new opportunities in diversifying exports and shifting supply chains, reported ANI.

US tariffs on India Live: “A red line needs to be drawn where our government should tell their government that the US President is not right,” Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi told reporters.

Trump Tariffs LIVE: CEO and Secretary General of PHDCCI, Ranjeet Mehta, said that the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on goods exported to the US will have a momentary impact on India’s MSMEs, stating that it is an opportunity for India to scale its business.

US tariffs on India Live: The Indian government, in an official statement said that it has taken note of Trump’s statements, and will take ‘necessary steps’ to secure ‘national interest’.

US tariffs on India Live:  White House Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett said that information about the ‘additional penalty’ that Trump imposed on India will be detailed “shortly”.

Trump Tariffs LIVE: Reacting to Trump’s tariffs, Kranthi Bathini, Director – Equity Strategy said “there could be a knee-jerk reaction in the short term, but the issue with Trump is that he often says one thing today and something completely different tomorrow.”

US tariffs on India Live: “I think anyone who buys sanctioned Russian oil should be ready for this,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said on Tuesday, reported CNN.

Trump Tariffs LIVE: American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of Indian companies slipped across the board. As of 7:15pm, HDFC Bank declined 1.06% to $76.64, while ICICI Bank’s ADR dropped 1.20% to $33.38. Wipro fell 1.79% to $2.75, and Infosys edged down 0.78% to $17.08. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories saw the steepest drop, tumbling 3.83% to $14.20.

US tariffs on India Live: AAP MP Sanjay Singh, strongly criticised Trump’s 25% tariffs, stating that PM Modi should strongly oppose the move. “Donald Trump is mocking and insulting India every day,” he added

Trump Tariffs Live: Analysts have said that Trump’s latest tariff announcement is likely to spark a knee-jerk reaction when the Indian stock markets open tomorrow. Gift Nifty futures plunged sharply to 24,678, and were last trading down 160 points, or 0.63%, at 24,700. Read here

US tariffs on India LIVE: Multiple Congress leaders have criticised Trump’s tariff announcement. Congress MP Mallu Ravi says “In our country, we are afraid of taking the name of the US President and agreeing to whatever they (US) say. That’s why he (Trump) has imposed a 25 per cent tax on our imports and exports, and has even threatened to impose a penalty. This is not acceptable to India.”

 Trump Tariffs Live: According to Ajit Mishra of Religare Broking, Trump’s threats are ‘unlikely to materialise’. Read here

Trump Tariffs Live: Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on India, and criticised India’s military purchases from Russia. He said India was “Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY.”