NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he will not compromise the interests of the country’s farmers even if he has to pay a heavy price for it, in his first comments after US President Donald Trump’s salvo of a 50% tariff on Indian goods.
Trump announced an additional 25 percent tariff on the South Asian nation on Thursday, taking the total levy on Indian goods being exported to the US to 50% – among the highest levied on any US trading partner.
“For us, our farmers’ welfare is supreme,” Modi told MS Swaminathan Centenary International Conference in New Delhi. “India will never compromise on the well-being of its farmers, dairy (sector) and fishermen. And I know personally I will have to pay a heavy price for it,” he said.
Trade talks between India and the United States collapsed after five rounds of negotiations over disagreement on opening India’s vast farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases.
Modi made it clear that he would continue to stand by the country’s farmers and bear the brunt of America’s steepest tariffs. “For us, the interest of our farmers is our top priority,” Modi said. “India will never compromise on the interests of farmers, fishermen and dairy farmers.”
He added, “I know I will have to pay a heavy price for it personally, and I am ready for it. India is ready for it.”
Modi did not directly refer to the US tariffs or trade talks.
Earlier in its reaction, Indian External Affairs Ministry called the US tariffs “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”, and vowed to “take all actions necessary to protect its national interests”. It also called out Washington’s double standards in singling it out for Russian oil imports while continuing to buys Russian uranium hexafluoride, palladium and fertilizer.
Trump’s tariff offensive has plunged US-India ties to their lowest point in recent years. It has also raised concerns among exporters and industry leaders on both sides. Analysts warn the tariffs could hurt key Indian sectors including textiles, pharmaceuticals, and processed foods — all major contributors to India’s exports.
The new tariff, effective from August 28, was to penalise India for its purchase of Russian oil, Trump has said. India’s foreign ministry has said the decision was “extremely unfortunate,” and that “India will take all necessary steps to protect its national interests.”
The US is yet to announce any similar tariff for China, which is the biggest buyer of Russian oil. Experts have said China has been spared so far as it has a bargaining chip with the US over its reserves of rare earth minerals and other such commodities, which India lacks.
“The US tariff hike lacks logic,” Dammu Ravi, secretary of economic relations in India’s foreign ministry, told reporters. “So this is a temporary aberration, a temporary problem that the country will face, but in course of time, we are confident that the world will find solutions.”
India has started making moves to signal that it might have to consider other partnerships in the coming months in the face of Trump’s tariffs, which have led to the worst diplomatic showdown between the two countries in years.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing for his first visit to China in over seven years, suggesting a potential realignment in alliances as relations with Washington fray. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he would initiate a conversation among the BRICS group of developing nations about how to tackle Trump’s tariffs.
