Politics
Steep US tariffs set to hit Indian exports from Wednesday
Indian exporters are bracing for a sharp decline in orders from the United States after trade talks collapsed and Washington confirmed that steep new tariffs on the South Asian nation’s goods would take effect from Wednesday, escalating tension between the strategic partners.
An additional 25 per cent duty announced by President Donald Trump, confirmed in a notice by the Homeland Security Department, takes total tariffs to as much as 50pc, among Washington’s highest, in retaliation for New Delhi’s increased buying of Russian oil.
“The government has no hope for any immediate relief or delay in US tariffs,” said a commerce ministry official, who sought anonymity for lack of authorisation to speak to the media.
Exporters hit by tariffs would receive financial assistance and be encouraged to diversify to alternative markets such as China, Latin America and the Middle East, the official added.
However, the commerce ministry did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the latest notice.
The new duties will apply from 12:01am EDT on Wednesday (9:31am IST), it showed. Exceptions are shipments in transit, humanitarian aid and items under reciprocal trade programmes.
The Indian rupee fell to a three-week closing low of 87.68 against the dollar, despite recovering some ground after suspected central bank intervention to support it.
The benchmark equity indexes closed down 1pc each, for their worst sessions in three months.
Wednesday’s tariff move follows five rounds of failed talks, during which Indian officials had signalled optimism that tariffs could be capped at 15pc.
Officials on both sides blamed political misjudgment and missed signals for the breakdown in talks between the world’s biggest and fifth-largest economies, whose two-way trade is worth more than $190 billion.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have accused India of indirectly funding Russia’s war against Ukraine by boosting Russian oil purchases.
This month, Bessent said India was profiteering from its sharply increased imports, making up 42pc of total oil purchases, versus less than 1pc before the war, in a shift Washington has called unacceptable.
India has issued no directive yet on oil purchases from Russia. Companies will continue to buy oil on the basis of economics, three refining sources said.
Exporter groups estimate hikes could affect nearly 55pc of India’s merchandise exports worth $87bn to the US, while benefiting competitors such as Bangladesh, China and Vietnam.
“The US customers have already stopped new orders,” said Pankaj Chadha, president of the Engineering Exports Promotion Council. “With these additional tariffs, the exports could come down by 20-30pc from September onward.”
The government has promised financial aid such as greater subsidies on bank loans and support for diversification in the event of financial losses, Chadha added.
“However, exporters see limited scope for diversifying to other markets or selling in the domestic market.”
The commerce ministry official said the government had identified nearly 50 countries to which India could boost exports, particularly items such as textiles, food processed items, leather goods and marine products.
India’s diamond industry exports have already hit a two-decade low on weak Chinese demand, and the higher tariffs now threaten to cut it off from its largest market, taking nearly a third of $28.5bn annual shipments of gems and jewellery.
Broader economic impact
Private sector analysts warn that a sustained 50pc tariff could weigh on India’s economy and corporate profits, prompting the steepest earnings downgrades in Asia, even if proposed domestic tax cuts partly cushion the blow.
Last week, Capital Economics said full US tariffs would chip 0.8 percentage points from India’s economic growth both this year and the next.
Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar also said trade talks continued and Washington’s concern over Russian oil purchases was not equally applied to other major buyers such as China and the European Union.
The US could be a major energy supplier to India, an official of its New Delhi embassy said on Tuesday.
The US is committed to collaborating with India on exports of high-quality products and services to help achieve energy security and economic growth, the official added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed not to compromise the interests of Indian farmers, even if it entails a heavy price. Modi is also moving to burnish ties with China, planning his first visit there in seven years at the end of the month.
- Hegseth rapidly reshaping Pentagon leadership.
- No official reason given for George’s removal.
- General LaNeve to serve as acting Army chief.
WASHINGTON: US Army Chief of Staff Randy George was fired on Thursday by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, three US defence officials told Reuters, in the latest purge among the Pentagon’s most senior ranks.
Even as Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has moved quickly to reshape the department, firing a general during wartime is nearly without precedent.
The Pentagon confirmed that George, who had more than a year left in his term, “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately.”
The Pentagon said in a statement it was grateful for George’s decades of service. “We wish him well in his retirement,” it said.
Two of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Hegseth has also fired General David Hodne, who leads the Army’s Transformation and Training Command, and Major General William Green, head of the Army’s Chaplain Corps.
The department did not give a reason for George’s departure, which comes as the US military builds up its forces in the Middle East while carrying out operations against Iran.
The US strikes in the region are largely being carried out by the Navy and Air Force, although US Army soldiers have been dispatched to the Middle East for air defence systems. The Army is the largest branch of the US military, with about 450,000 active-duty soldiers.
Thousands of soldiers from the US Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division have also started arriving in the Middle East, potentially for ground operations in Iran.
Latest upheaval at Pentagon
There had been no public signs of friction between Hegseth and George, even as Hegseth pursued controversial moves such as firing the Army’s top lawyer and arranging a massive military parade to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday, which coincided with Trump’s birthday.
Earlier this week, Hegseth also reversed an Army decision to investigate Army pilots who were flying attack helicopters near singer Kid Rock’s house, in an apparent show of support for the vocal Trump backer.
CBS News, which first reported the dismissal, said it was not related to the Kid Rock incident.
One of the officials said Hegseth’s former military aide and Army vice chief of staff, General Christopher LaNeve, will take over George’s role in an acting capacity.
Another of the officials added that senior Army leadership learned about George’s firing at the same time as it was made public.
George, an infantry officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was confirmed to the top Army post in 2023. Terms in that role usually run for four years.
Prior to holding the top job, George was the vice chief of the Army and, before that, the senior military adviser to then-Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
He was considered close to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. The two worked together to take on large defence companies, in the Army’s drive to speed up weapons development and drive down costs.
George’s removal adds to recent upheaval at all levels of leadership at the Pentagon, including the firing last year of the previous chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General CQ Brown, as well as the chief of naval operations and Air Force vice chief of staff.
The office for George did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Indian police this week seized 414 cooking‑gas canisters hidden in a graveyard in Hyderabad city and arrested those involved in trying to sell them on the black market amid shortages due to the Iran war, a government official said on Thursday.
Authorities have stepped up raids to curb hoarding of liquefied petroleum gas canisters after the US-Israeli war against Iran disrupted shipping, causing supply shortages. India, the world’s No 2 LPG importer, meets about 60% of its demand through overseas purchases, mostly from the Middle East.
“Just yesterday, around 2,600 raids were carried out and about 700 cylinders were seized,” Sujata Sharma, a senior official in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told a regular briefing on the Middle East crisis.
“In addition, around 400 cylinders were recently found at one location inside a graveyard in Hyderabad. Ten people have been detained there, and the distributor involved has been suspended,” she said.
Police said the accused had been selling both commercial and domestic canisters from the graveyard at nearly three times the current market price. A commercial canister that costs about 2,100 Indian rupees ($22) had been sold for as much as 6,000 rupees.
The total value of the seized canisters and some vehicles used by the accused was nearly 2.2 million rupees, police said. Reuters could not immediately contact the accused or their representatives.
“The supply of natural gas to domestic consumers is 100% assured,” Sharma said. “With regard to LPG supply, prices have remained stable despite international volatility, and there has been no increase in the price of domestic LPG cylinders.”
To ease the pressure on LPG supplies, India has been promoting the use of alternatives such as kerosene, coal and biogas, while accelerating the rollout of piped natural gas for households.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump made fun of the French president and his wife during a private lunch Wednesday, as he lambasted Nato allies for not joining the war against Iran that has roiled the Middle East.
“We didn’t need them, but I asked anyway,” Trump told a private lunch in a video posted briefly on the White House YouTube channel before access was blocked.
“I call up France, Macron — whose wife treats him extremely badly. Still recovering from the right to the jaw,” Trump said.
He was referring to a May 2025 news video that appeared to show Brigitte Macron shoving the French president’s face on a trip to Vietnam, which Macron later rejected as part of a disinformation campaign.
“And I said, ‘Emmanuel, we’d love to have some help in the Gulf even though we’re setting records on knocking out bad people and knocking out ballistic missiles. We’d love to have some help. If you could, could you please send ships immediately,'” Trump continued.
He then mimics a French accent to give Macron’s alleged answer: “‘No no no, we cannot do that, Donald. We can do that after the war is won,'” he said.
“I said, ‘No no, I don’t need after the war is won Emmanuel,'” Trump said.
“So I learned about Nato — Nato won’t be there if we ever have the big one, you know what I mean by the big one,” Trump said, without elaborating.
He also branded Nato a “paper tiger,” the latest salvo by Trump and his top officials against the transatlantic alliance since he returned to the White House last year.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “is going to have to reexamine” its relationship with Nato once the war against Iran has concluded.
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