Which sectors are going to get severely hit by latest Trump tariffs?
President Trump's new 25% tariff on Indian imports, raising the total to 50%, severely impacts key Indian export sectors. Leather, textiles, jewelry, shrimp, and footwear face substantial duty increases, potentially slashing US-bound exports by 40-50%. This unilateral action, citing India's purchase of discounted Russian oil, disproportionately affects labor-intensive industries and bilateral trade
New Delhi: Sectors such as leather, chemical, footwear, gems and jewelry, textiles, and shrimp would be hit hard by the latest unilateral tariff announcement by US President Donald Trump, say industry experts. These are the sectors that constitute significant Indian exports to the US (around 40 percent). Additionally, these are the sectors that employ the maximum workforce in them.
President Trump on Wednesday announced an additional 25 percent tariff, raising the total duties to 50 percent on all imports coming from India. The reason cited by Trump for the latest salvo is attributed to the purchasing of the discounted Russian oil by India. The latest tariff is unilaterally slapped on India, while other Russian oil buyers, such as China and Turkey, are being given an exemption.
Impact of US Tariffs on Key Indian Export Sectors
The sectors that are going to get hit severely include textile/clothing ($10 billion). gems and jewelry ($12 billion), shrimp ($2.24 billion), leather and footwear ($1.18 billion), chemicals ($2.34 billion), and electrical and mechanical machinery ($9 billion).
"The tariffs are expected to make Indian goods far costlier in the US, with the potential to cut US-bound exports by 40–50 percent," said GTRI. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) is a think tank focused on climate change, technology, and trade.
Domestic exports to the US are now set to attract an additional duty. To explain with an example, the organic chemical sector will now attract an additional 54 percent duty. The other sectors that would be getting impacted include carpets attracting 53 percent and the apparel-knitted segment receiving 63.9 percent duty; the apparel-woven sector attracting around 61 percent; the labor-intensive textile sector, which will now be attracting 59 percent tariffs; and the diamond, gold, gem, and jewelry sector receiving 52 percent duty. For mechanical appliances, the custom duty will now be 51.3 percent.
Out of the total 50 percent tariffs, 25 percent already came into force today on August 7. The remaining 25 percent is set to be implemented from August 27.
For the financial year 2024-25 (FY25), the bilateral trade between India and the US stands at $131.8 billion, in which $86.5 billion constitutes Indian exports and $45.3 billion includes imports from the US.