Politics
India reels from US tariff hike threat

MUMBAI: Indian exporters are scrambling for options to mitigate the fallout of US President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff salvo against the world’s most populous nation.
Many warn of dire job losses after Trump said he would double new import tariffs from 25% to 50% if India continues to buy Russian oil, in a bid to strip Moscow of revenue for its military offensive in Ukraine.
“At 50% tariff, no product from India can stand any competitive edge,” said economist Garima Kapoor from Elara Securities.
India, one of the world’s largest crude oil importers, has until August 27 to find alternatives to replace around a third of its current oil supply from abroad.
While New Delhi is not an export powerhouse, it shipped goods worth about $87 billion to the United States in 2024.

That 50% levy now threatens to upend low-margin, labour-intensive industries ranging from gems and jewellery to textiles and seafood.
The Global Trade Research Initiative estimates a potential 60% drop in US sales in 2025 in sectors such as garments.
Exporters say they are racing to fulfil orders before the deadline.
“Whatever we can ship before August 27, we are shipping,” said Vijay Kumar Agarwal, chairman of Creative Group. The Mumbai-based textile and garment exporter has a nearly 80% exposure to the US market.
But Agarwal warned that is merely triage.
Shipping goods before the deadline “doesn´t solve” the problem, he said.
“If it doesn’t get resolved, there will be chaos,” he said, adding that he’s worried for the future of his 15,000 to 16,000 employees.
“It is a very gloomy situation […] it will be an immense loss of business.”
Livelihoods threatened
Talks to resolve the matter hinge on geopolitics, far from the reach of business. Trump is set to meet Vladimir Putin on Friday, the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries’ presidents since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
New Delhi, with longstanding ties with Moscow, is in a delicate situation.
Since Trump’s tariff threats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, urging a “peaceful resolution” to the conflict.
Meanwhile, the US tariff impact is already being felt in India.

Businesses say fresh orders from some US buyers have begun drying up — threatening millions of dollars in future business and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands in the world’s fifth biggest economy.
Among India’s biggest apparel makers with global manufacturing operations, some are looking to move their US orders elsewhere.
Top exporter Pearl Global Industries has told Indian media that some of its US customers asked that orders be produced in lower-duty countries such as Vietnam or Bangladesh, where the company also has manufacturing facilities.
Major apparel maker Gokaldas Exports told Bloomberg it may boost production in Ethiopia and Kenya, which have a 10% tariff.
‘Nothing happening now’
Moody’s recently warned that for India, the “much wider tariff gap” may “even reverse some of the gains made in recent years in attracting related investments”.
India’s gems and jewellery industry exported goods worth more than $10 billion last year and employs hundreds of thousands of people.
“Nothing is happening now, everything is at a standstill, new orders have been put on hold,” Ajesh Mehta from D Navinchandra Exports told AFP.
“We expect up to 150,000 to 200,000 workers to be impacted.”
Gems, and other expensive non-essential items, are vulnerable.
“A 10% tariff was absorbable — 25% is not, let alone this 50%,” Mehta added.

“At the end of the day, we deal in luxury products. When the cost goes up beyond a point, customers will cut back.”
Seafood exporters, who have been told by some US buyers to hold shipments, are hoping for new customers.
“We are looking to diversify our markets,” says Alex Ninan, who is a partner at the Baby Marine Group.
“The United States is totally out right now. We will have to push our products to alternative markets, such as China, Japan… Russia is another market we are really looking into.”
Ninan, however, warns that is far from simple. “You can’t create a market all of a sudden,” he said.
Politics
Iran’s response to mediation efforts is ‘clear’: President Pezeshkian

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has affirmed that several countries have initiated mediation efforts to halt the brutal, imposed war waged against the Islamic Republic by the United States and the Israeli regime.
In a post on the social media platform X on Friday, President Pezeshkian said, “Some countries have begun mediation efforts and our response to them is clear.”
He stressed that these efforts must target the true aggressors, the US and Israel, who launched this unprovoked aggression.
He reiterated Iran’s unwavering commitment to “lasting” peace in the region, declaring, “Yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation’s dignity, sovereignty, and the rights of our great people.”
The president emphasized that any genuine mediation must confront those who underestimated the resilience of the Iranian nation and deliberately ignited this war through their criminal attacks.
The US and the Israeli regime unleashed a new wave of savage aerial aggression against Iran on February 28, barely eight months after their previous unprovoked assaults on the country.
These barbaric strikes resulted in the martyrdom of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei—a profound loss for the Islamic Ummah and a heinous crime against humanity.
In response, the Iranian government declared 40 days of national public mourning and seven days of official holidays to honor the Supreme Leader’s martyrdom and rally the nation in unity and resolve.
These latest aggressions came even as Tehran and Washington had engaged in three rounds of indirect negotiations in the Omani capital of Muscat and the Swiss city of Geneva, with plans underway for technical talks in Vienna, Austria—demonstrating Iran’s consistent pursuit of diplomacy despite relentless hostility.
Unyielding in the face of this aggression, Iran has launched powerful and precise retaliatory barrages of missiles and drones targeting military sites in the Israeli-occupied territories and US bases across the region, exercising its legitimate right to self-defense and sending a clear message that the Iranian nation will never submit to bullying or occupation.
Politics
Iran destroys US radars in UAE, Jordan, satellite images show

Satellite images show that several US military radars in the UAE and Jordan have been successfully hit by Iranian missiles and drones as the Iranian Armed Forces continue a retaliatory campaign against American and Israeli aggression.
New images from several military installations across the Arabian Peninsula suggest that Iran has focused on disabling the radar infrastructure that forms the backbone of US-supplied missile systems.
One such radar, supporting an American THAAD missile battery at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, appears to have been hit and destroyed in the opening days of the war, according to satellite imagery captured Monday.
The base lies more than 500 miles from Iran, underscoring the reach of Tehran’s retaliatory operations.
Similar damage has also been detected in the United Arab Emirates.
Satellite analysis shows that buildings housing radar-related infrastructure were struck at two locations—near Ruwais and Sader—between February 28 and March 1.At least three structures in Ruwais and four in Sader sustained visible damage, including pull-through vehicle sheds typically used to store radar systems linked to THAAD batteries.
The radar component is considered a critical element of the high-end missile interceptor system, enabling the detection and tracking of incoming ballistic missiles and drones. Without it, the interceptor batteries’ ability to respond to threats is significantly degraded.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) earlier said such strikes were part of its expanding Operation True Promise 4, a campaign launched in retaliation for the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression.
“With the successful destruction of more than seven advanced radars, the eyes of the US and the usurping Zionist regime in the region have been blinded,” the IRGC said in a statement on Wednesday, announcing the 17th stage of the operation.
The latest developments come after the United States and Israel launched a new round of aggression against Iran on February 28, eight months after earlier unprovoked attacks against the country.
The strikes has led to the martyrdom of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and more than 1,200 civilians, including women, children and senior military commanders.
Iran responded swiftly, unleashing waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli-occupied territories and US bases across the region.
Iranian officials insist the war was imposed on the country and say their ongoing military campaign is a legitimate act of self-defense aimed at neutralizing the infrastructure used to sustain further aggression.
Politics
Russia ‘providing Iran intelligence’ to target US forces: report

- US refrains from commenting on alleged Russian support.
- Officials say information includes locations of US warships.
- Russia says it was in dialogue with representatives of Iran.
Russia is providing Iran with targeting information that includes locations of US warships and aircraft in the Middle East, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing three officials familiar with the intelligence.
The extent of Russia’s support to Iran was not entirely clear, but the Iranian military’s own ability to locate US forces has been degraded since the US and Israel launched strikes against Tehran last week, the Washington Post reported.
The war has since escalated, triggering retaliatory strikes by Iran, and ensnared its neighbours as it seeks to impose a high cost on the US, Israel and their allies.
The US military has identified six reserve soldiers killed in Kuwait when a drone slammed into a US military facility in Port Shuaiba. Trump and other senior officials have warned the conflict will likely result in more US military deaths.
A White House spokesperson did not directly comment on the alleged Russian support to Iran.
“The Iranian regime is being absolutely crushed. Their ballistic missile retaliation is decreasing every day, their navy is being wiped out, their production capacity is being demolished, and proxies are hardly putting up a fight,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement, responding to questions from Reuters.
Russia was in dialogue with representatives of Iran’s leadership, the Kremlin said on Friday. It declined to provide details when asked by reporters whether Moscow was helping Tehran.
The conflict has been an unexpected shot in the arm for Russia, with a significant bump in demand for its oil and gas, boosting exports battered in recent years by sanctions linked to its war in Ukraine. The United States has given Ukraine intelligence information during its war with Russia.
The Russian Embassy in Washington and Russia’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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